Given name & surname
Benedict
“one who is blessed”
Benedict is used as a given name and a surname. One Latin interpretation is “one who is blessed.”
Original LatinBenedictus
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Latin interpretation is “one who is blessed.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Latin.
How it developed
From Late Latin Benedictus, from Latin benedictus, from Latin benedīcō (“to bless, to speak well of”), built from Latin bene (“well”) + dīcō (“to speak”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1882. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Benedict through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 10,475
- 10,475 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 305 babies
- 2025
- 305
- #814 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +40%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 305 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 814 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 40.5% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (30). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 6,647 as a first name in 2020; 16,229 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Benedict’s family of names
In English usage, Benedict has a diminutive in Ben. Benedict shares a linguistic root with Benito. Benedict has a related form in Bennett.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Benedict has relatives in 28 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
Latinwhere Benedict comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 31
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Bennettvariant · English
- Bensonshort form
- Beniciovariant · Spanish
- Bendiminutive · English
- Benitovariant · Italian, Spanish
- Bennetvariant · English
- Benoitvariant · English
- Benedettovariant · Italian
Show 23 moreShow fewer
- Benettvariant
- Bennitovariant
- Benedictovariant · Spanish
- Benediktvariant · German, Czech
- Benetvariant · Catalan
- Bengtvariant · Swedish
- 卷福nickname
- Benoistvariant · French
- Benbendiminutive · ceb
- Benneitvariant
- Benesvariant
- Bendykvariant
- Bendekvariant
- Bentvariant · Danish
- Benntvariant
- Bennediktvariant
- Bennedictvariant
- Benediktevariant
- Benedictusvariant · Latin
- Benedictosvariant
- Benedickvariant
- Bendictvariant
- Bendickvariant
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 44
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Bentocognate · Portuguese
- Mubarakequivalent
- Barakequivalent
- Benedettafeminine form
- Barackequivalent
- Benzequivalent
- Benedictafeminine form · English
- Benoequivalent
Show 36 moreShow fewer
- Benedekcognate · Hungarian
- Bendixequivalent
- Bendichtequivalent
- Benonequivalent
- Венядзіктequivalent
- Bnoetequivalent
- Benedeitequivalent
- Benesetequivalent
- Beneditequivalent
- ΒενέδικτοςGreek
- БенедиктRussian
- BeneditoPortuguese
- Benedyktcognate · Polish
- Benoîtcognate · French
- Venediktdoublet · English
- Venedictrelated form
- Binidittuequivalent
- BenediktoEsperanto
- ΕὔφημοςAncient Greek
- BenadiktFaroese
- BeinidictIrish
- BdekAlbanian
- BieitoGalician
- BendikNorwegian
- BenedigBreton
- BennigedBreton
- BenediktasLithuanian
- BænadiktFaroese
- ВенедиктRussian
- BeneadBreton
- Pentticognate · Finnish
- Benediktafeminine form
- Benoitefeminine form
- Benešcognate
- Bendtcognate
- Bénézetcognate
See also 5
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Benedict
- Benedict of Nursiafounder of Christian monasticism, founder of the Benedictine order (480–547)
- Benedict CumberbatchEnglish actor (born 1976)
- Benedict AndersonAmerican political scientist (1936-2015)
- Benni McCarthySouth African association football player (born 1977)
- Benedict Arnoldarmy officer who betrayed America to the British during the Revolutionary War (1740–1801)1741–1801
- Benedict WongBritish actorborn 1971
- Ben ChaplinBritish actorborn 1969
- Franz Xaver von BaaderGerman philosopher and theologian (1765-1841)
- Benedict of AnianeBenedictine monk and reformer750–821
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Benedict, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Lucian
“surrounded by light”
>99% boys
Ambrose
“immortal, divine”
98% boys · 2% girls
Leo
“lion” · “resembling a lion”
>99% boys
Dominic
“a lord”
>99% boys
Beatus
Beatus is a masculine given name from Latin. It is used in French.
>99% boys
Sebastian
“man from Sebasta” · “the revered one”
>99% boys
Cugat
>99% boys
Antonín
“a flourishing man; from an ancient Roman family”
>99% boys