Benedict
Top 1000
About Benedict
Parents who like Ben and Benjamin but find those forms too popular sometimes consider Benedict as a more distinctive choice. Unlike the Old Testament Benjamin, Benedict is the name of the saint who formed the Benedictine Order and of fifteen popes,including a recent one.
Shakespeare used a variant form--Benedick--for the character in Much Ado About Nothing. Other options are Bennett and Benno.
Benedict Cumberbatch is a British stage, film and TV actor, who has been seen as Stephen Hawking, William Pitt, Dr. Frankenstein, Frankenstein's monster, and currently as Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series.
Just one caveat: There is the link to that infamous traitor Benedict Arnold.
Pronounced BEN-uh-dikt.
As of October 2026, Benedict ranked #814 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #447 in 1914, Nameberry popularity #405.
Editor: Pamela Redmond
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,272 | 140 | 72.9 |
| 2015 | #1,205 | 153 | 79.8 |
| 2016 | #1,229 | 152 | 80.1 |
| 2017 | #1,129 | 169 | 91.3 |
| 2018 | #985 | 210 | 115.6 |
| 2019 | #1,102 | 179 | 99.8 |
| 2020 | #1,069 | 187 | 108.3 |
| 2021 | #996 | 220 | 125.8 |
| 2022 | #967 | 234 | 134 |
| 2023 | #929 | 245 | 143.2 |
| 2024 | #913 | 254 | 147.4 |
| 2025 | #814 | 305 | 178.6 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Benedict.
- Edgar
- Edmund
- Edwin
- Eugene
- Hector
- Leopold
- Francis
- Lawrence
- Augustine
- Solomon
- Clarence
- Victor
- Phineas
- Ernest
- Claude
- Leonard
- Lionel
- Augustus
- Cecil
- Abraham
Benedict on lists
Famous Benedicts
- Saint Benedict of Nursia
Italian patron of Europe and students
- Benedict I
XVI, popes (latest resigned 2013)
- Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch
English actor
- Benedict Arnold
American Revolutionary general and traitor
- Benedict Biscop
Anglo,Saxon abbot
- Benedict "Ben" Carpenter
English sculptor
- Benedict Martin Paul "Ben" Mulroney
Canadian TV presenter
- Joseph Benedict "Ben" Chifley
16th prime minister of Australia
- Benedict Joseph Semmes
Jr., American admiral
- Benedict Wong
English actor
Benedict in pop culture
- Benedict
character in opera "Beatrice et Benedict" by Hector Berlioz
- Benedict Copeland
character in Carson McCullers' "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter"
- Benedict of Amber
character in the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
- Benedict aka Father
character in animated series "Codename: Kids Next Door"
- Nicholas Benedict
character in "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
- Terry Benedict
villain in movie "Ocean's Eleven"
- Eggs benedict
breakfast dish
- Benedict Blue
A postman in Violet Evergarden anime
Variations & nicknames
- BenedettoItalian
- BenceHungarian
- BengSwedish
- BenediktRussian
- BendikNorwegian
- BenôitFrench
- BenneitScottish Gaelic
- VenyaRussian
- VenedictGreek
- BenkeEastern European
- VenkaRussian
- BenedekEastern European
- BendtDanish
- BenoîtYiddish
- VenediktRussian
- BenetCatalan
- BendixDutch
- BenedikEastern European
- PenttiFinnish
- BenenIrish
- BenedickDutch
- BendekHungarian
- BenitoPortuguese