# Benson (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/benson/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English habitational surname from Old English from a place in Oxfordshire.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 86,081 |
| US rank (2010) | 365 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 3,587 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.2% (84,233 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈbɛn.sən/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Ultimately from Old English Benesingtūn.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Benson in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 78% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 16% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Benson in the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Albania and Belgium.

## People named Benson

- Ashley Benson, American actress
- George Benson, American guitarist and singer (born 1943)
- Amber Benson, American actress
- Jodi Benson, American actress
- Breanne Benson, Albanian-American pornographic actress
- Frank Weston Benson, American painter (1862–1951)
- Brendan Benson, American musician and singer-songwriter
- Howard Benson, American record producer
- Kent Benson, American basketball player (born 1954)
- Manuel Benson, Belgian footballer
- Edward Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury (1829-1896)
- Keith Benson, American basketball player (born 1988)

and 28 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Bensen, Bencomo, Benigno, Benzing, Benjamin, Bingham, Bingaman, Bianchini, Bingman.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.