Holding steady, #11,932 for girls today.
Popularity of Bena since 1880
Babies named Bena per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1918, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Bena's real moment was 1880.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 24 |
| 1890s | 49 |
| 1900s | 46 |
| 1910s | 83 |
| 1920s | 86 |
| 1930s | 51 |
| 1940s | 38 |
| 1950s | 35 |
| 1960s | 28 |
| 1970s | 45 |
| 1980s | 36 |
| 1990s | 23 |
| 2000s | 33 |
| 2010s | 38 |
| 2020s | 27 |
Meaning & origin
Bena is a name that has lingered on the edges of American naming charts since 1880, the first year it was recorded, when it saw its highest-ever usage. In that peak year, it ranked 11,932 (the name's lowest numerical rank, indicating greatest relative frequency), though the number of actual births was still very small. Since then, its use has been sporadic and stable at extremely low levels; the trajectory is classified as 'stable,' meaning it has never experienced a surge or a sharp decline. In 2025, only about 1 in every 229,610 girls born in the U.S. received the name Bena. It has no documented strong association with any particular U.S. state, and no well-known public figures bear the name. Its etymology remains uncertain, with possible roots in Latin or Hebrew, but the name has never taken on a clear cultural or linguistic identity beyond its English usage.
Bena is a name of uncertain derivation. It may have originated as a diminutive of Latin names such as Benigna (meaning 'kind') or as a variant of the Hebrew name Bina (meaning 'understanding'). It was recorded in the United States as early as 1880, though it has never been common. The name has occasionally been used in English-speaking countries, possibly as a feminine form of Ben.
Nicknames & variants
Sibling names for Bena
Names that share Bena's style, for a brother or sister.
