Benjamin

Benjamin is a name that is deep-rooted in American history. There’s Benjamin Franklin, who was the founding father of the United States, as well as Benjamin Harrison who was the 23rd President of the USA, to name but a few. This name comes from the Hebrew name Binyamin, meaning ‘son of my right hand’. According to the Bible, Jacob was a father to twelve sons, with Benjamin being the youngest of all. This is why the popular phrase the ‘Benjamin of the family’ is used to refer to a family’s youngest son. Another possible Hebrew interpretation of Benjamin can also be ‘a son of the South’, as Benjamin was the only son of Jacob who was born in the south of Mesopotamia. An alternate understanding can be that Binyamin is taken from the Hebrew word for ‘years’. This changes the meaning of Benjamin to ‘son of old age’, as Jacob was an old man at the time Benjamin was born.