Boys' name · peaked in 1939
Benny name popularity since 1925
45,370 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Benny (1.3% girls, 98.7% boys). Half of them were born in 1954 or earlier, so the typical Benny is about 72 years old in 2026. Benny peaked in 1939 as the #172 name for boys, and it ranked #841 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 45,370
- Named Benny, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #841
- for boys in 2025 (293 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 98.7% boys
- 579 girls · 44,791 boys
- Most popular in
- New Mexico
- 4.34× its national share
Peak year is the year Benny made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Benny births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1948. Measured as a share of all babies, Benny peaked in 1939.
- Steepest fall: Between 1979 and 1984, Benny's share of baby boys fell by 41%, from 1 in 5,080 to 1 in 8,550.
- Fastest rise: Between 2016 and 2021, it became 1.9× more common, from 1 in 15,600 baby boys to 1 in 8,060.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Benny's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Benny.
Decade by decade
Babies named Benny in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 64 | 2,165 | – |
| 1930s | 123 | 6,863 | #190 |
| 1940s | 98 | 9,303 | #187 |
| 1950s | 85 | 8,805 | #245 |
| 1960s | 69 | 5,655 | #334 |
| 1970s | 36 | 3,316 | #437 |
| 1980s | 19 | 2,341 | #599 |
| 1990s | 0 | 1,828 | #796 |
| 2000s | 0 | 1,749 | #1,013 |
| 2010s | 10 | 1,399 | #1,438 |
| 2020–25 | 75 | 1,367 | #841 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
36.5% of babies named Benny from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Benny is most popular
The index compares Benny's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Benny.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| New Mexico | 4.34× | 984 |
| Arkansas | 3.15× | 1,328 |
| Oklahoma | 2.51× | 1,343 |
| Alabama | 2.43× | 1,763 |
| Mississippi | 2.31× | 1,147 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Benny and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Benny (this page) | 44,791 | 1939 |
| Bennie | 40,127 | 1904 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Benny's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Benny.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Benny (1939).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data