MEANING & CONTEXT
What does Ben mean?
Gujarati ben means sister and is used as a respectful address for a woman. Hebrew ben is the word for son and also appears in Benjamin, son of the right hand. English naming uses Ben as a short form of Benjamin, Jacob’s youngest son in the biblical narrative.
Spellings in Indian scripts
Devanagari
बेन
Conventional spelling
Gujarati
બેન
Conventional spelling
HISTORICAL VOTER RECORDS
Ben in Indian usage
3,155 historical electoral-roll records, chiefly adults, rather than current baby-name rankings.
Used for both boys and girls in these historical records; the recorded sex does not determine anyone’s identity.
- Recorded as female: 1,795 records (56.9%).
- Recorded as male: 1,360 records (43.1%).
By birth decade
| Birth decade | Records |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 276 |
| 1970s | 626 |
| 1980s | 1,207 |
| 1990s | 808 |
| Other decades | 238 |
By state or territory
| State / territory | Records |
|---|---|
| Delhi | 1,451 |
| Kerala | 590 |
| Maharashtra | 338 |
| Assam | 228 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 111 |
| Other states | 437 |
How to read these numbers
Small counts and a second count where needed are withheld for privacy; an omitted value is not zero. Coverage, dates and suppression.
Recorded abroad
Official births registered in 2025, for the exact spelling shown.
| Jurisdiction | Spelling / recorded sex | Births | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| England & Wales | Ben / M | 79 | 487 |
| Scotland | Ben / M | 28 | 160 |
ONS and National Records of Scotland; Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3. Counts follow each office’s publication rules.
Explore related lists
Sources
- Given-name entry (Wikidata): Ben ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Given-name spelling
- Historical Indian voter-record totals, v3 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Historical usage; CC0 1.0; birth years 1910–2001
- England & Wales 2025 birth statistics: Exact spelling Ben; Table_6, C492 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Exact spelling Ben; Table_6, C492
- Scotland 2025 birth statistics: Exact spelling Ben; full-list-1974-2025.csv; 2025 Boy ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Exact spelling Ben; full-list-1974-2025.csv; 2025 Boy