Benvie last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Benvie is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Benvie.

Meaning of Benvie

A Scottish surname referring to someone from Benvie, a parish near Dundee.

Benvie, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Benvie surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Benvie in America

Benvie is the 105079th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Benvie surname appeared 170 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Benvie.

We can also compare 2010 data for Benvie to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 105079 108153 -2.88%
Count 170 152 11.18%
Proportion per 100k 0.06 0.06 0.00%

The history of the last name Benvie

The surname Benvie originated in Scotland during the Middle Ages. It is a locational name derived from the lands of Benvie, located near Dundee in the county of Angus. The name is believed to derive from the Gaelic words "beinn," meaning hill or mountain, and "fiadh," meaning deer, suggesting the area was once a hunting ground or home to many deer.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Benvie can be found in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland from the late 13th century, where a Robert de Benvie is mentioned. This indicates the name was already well-established by this time.

In the 16th century, the Benvie family held lands in the parish of Benvie, as evidenced by records from the Registrum de Panmure, a historical manuscript detailing the lands and possessions of the Maule family, who were prominent landowners in the area.

Notable individuals with the surname Benvie throughout history include:

  1. James Benvie (1636-1708), a Scottish minister and writer who served as the Principal of the University of Edinburgh from 1703 until his death.

  2. Andrew Benvie (1780-1856), a Scottish sailor and explorer who accompanied Captain James Cook on his third voyage to the Pacific Ocean.

  3. Margaret Benvie (1892-1979), a Scottish artist renowned for her landscape paintings and portraits of notable figures in the Dundee area.

  4. William Benvie (1818-1885), a Scottish industrialist and entrepreneur who founded the Benvie Textile Mills, a major employer in Dundee during the 19th century.

  5. Robert Benvie (1923-2001), a Scottish soldier who served in the British Army during World War II and received the Military Cross for his bravery.

The name Benvie has also been associated with various place names in Scotland, such as Benvie Castle, a 16th-century tower house located near the village of Benvie, and the parish of Benvie, where the family's lands were historically situated.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Benvie

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Benvie.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Benvie was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 97.06% 165
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races (S)% (S)
Hispanic Origin (S)% (S)

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Benvie has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 97.06% 98.68% -1.66%
Black (S)% 0.00% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Two or More Races (S)% 0.00% (S)%
Hispanic (S)% (S)% (S)%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Benvie was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Benvie, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Benvie last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on July 18, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/benvie-surname-popularity/.

"Benvie last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/benvie-surname-popularity/. Accessed 18 July, 2025

Benvie last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/benvie-surname-popularity/.

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