Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Ben?
Births per year, rank history and how many Bens are alive today.
Ben (male), once a common boys' name, is now an uncommon choice for new babies in England and Wales, ranked 487th in 2025 with 79 given the name. The name peaked in 2002, when 3,190 babies were given the name, the 21st most popular that year. It has declined since 2002; the 2025 figure is roughly 2% of its peak. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 62,000 babies have been named Ben in England and Wales since 1984. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Ben is also a common short form of Benjamin, so many people called Ben are registered under the longer name.
The Ben you are most likely to meet is around 23 years old. Half of all Bens born in England and Wales are between 24 and 40, and there are at least 75,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 22% chance that at least one of them will be called Ben.
How many babies are named Ben each year?
Where does Ben rank among boys' names?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Ben most popular?
Ben peaked in 2002, when 3,190 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Ben?
At least 75,000 people named Ben born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Ben?
Most living Bens are between 24 and 40; the most common age is about 23.
Is Ben becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 2002 peak.