Given name
Benaiah
“God has established”
Benaiah is used as a given name. One Hebrew interpretation is “God has established.”
Original Hebrewבניה
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Hebrew interpretation is “God has established.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Hebrew.
How it developed
From the Hebrew verb bana (בנה), “to build.”
From biblical name research
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1976. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Benaiah appears in 2 Samuel 23:20, 2 Samuel 8:18, 2 Samuel 23:20-21 and 2 other passages.
- 2 Samuel 23:20
- 2 Samuel 8:18
- 2 Samuel 23:20-21
- 1 Kings 2:25
- 2 Samuel 23:30
From biblical name research
Benaiah through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 2,421
- 2,416 boys · 5 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 181 babies
- 2025
- 181
- #1,170 for boys · #15,305 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +13%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 176 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,170 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 12.5% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 5 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (19). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,356 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Benaiah’s family of names
Benaiah has a related form in Benaia. In French usage, Benaiah has a conventional equivalent in the German form BENAJA. Benaiah has a related form in Benaya.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 6
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
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