How common is the surname Benson?

86,081 people in the United States had the surname Benson in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 3,587 Americans. It ranked 365th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Benson?

Ashley Benson, American actress, followed by George Benson.

Where is the surname Benson most common?

Wikidata records people named Benson in the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and 2 other countries.

How do you pronounce Benson?

Benson is /ˈbɛn.sən/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Benson getting more or less common?

More common. 84,233 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 86,081 in 2010, up 2.2%.

Is Benson also a first name?

Yes. Benson is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Benson

An English place surname, carried by 86,081 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈbɛn.sən/ 2 syllables Soundex B525 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Benson is more common than 99.8% of them.

Origin

English origin

Ultimately from Old English Benesingtūn.

Benson is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 86,081 people named Benson in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 3,587 Americans. That is up 2.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 84,233.

#365

rank among US surnames

86,081

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+2.2%

change since 2000 (was #332)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#356	Vaughn	88,060	3,506
#357	Becker	87,859	3,514
#358	Holt	87,531	3,527
#359	Deleon	87,414	3,532
#360	Barker	87,162	3,542
#361	Terry	87,000	3,549
#362	Hale	86,618	3,564

Who is named Benson

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

78% of people named Benson identified as white (not Hispanic), 16% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Bensons

40 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Ashley Benson
American actress, born 1989
George Benson
American guitarist and singer (born 1943)
Amber Benson
American actress, born 1977
Jodi Benson
American actress, born 1961
Breanne Benson
Albanian-American pornographic actress, born 1984
Frank Weston Benson
American painter (1862–1951)
Brendan Benson
American musician and singer-songwriter, born 1970
Howard Benson
American record producer, born 1956
Kent Benson
American basketball player (born 1954)
Manuel Benson
Belgian footballer, born 1997
Edward Benson
Archbishop of Canterbury (1829-1896)
Keith Benson
American basketball player (born 1988)

Notable Bensons come mostly from the United States (32), the United Kingdom (4) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Benson

Benson has the Soundex code B525, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B525.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Benson come from?: Ultimately from Old English Benesingtūn.
How common is the surname Benson?: 86,081 people in the United States had the surname Benson in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 3,587 Americans. It ranked 365th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Benson?: In the 2010 Census, 78% of people named Benson identified as white (not Hispanic), and 16% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Benson?: Ashley Benson, American actress, followed by George Benson.
Where is the surname Benson most common?: Wikidata records people named Benson in the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and 2 other countries.
How do you pronounce Benson?: Benson is /ˈbɛn.sən/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Benson?: Benson is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Benson getting more or less common?: More common. 84,233 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 86,081 in 2010, up 2.2%.
Is Benson also a first name?: Yes. Benson is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.