How popular is the baby name Benji in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Benji.

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Popularity of the baby name Benji


Posts that mention the name Benji

Invented surname: Wojin

Anne Wojcicki and Sergey Brin
Anne Wojcicki and Sergey Brin

Successful entrepreneurs Sergey Brin (Google) and Anne Wojcicki (23andMe) were married from 2007 to 2015. During that time they had two children: a son in late 2008, and a daughter in late 2011.

They named the kids Benji and Chloe, but that’s not all — they also gave the kids a brand new surname: Wojin, a combination of Wojcicki (which is pronounced woh-JISS-kee) and Brin. According to a Gawker tipster, the surname had been created “for security reasons.”

Do you know of any other families with invented/blended surnames?

Sources:

Popular baby names in Northern Ireland (UK), 2014

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

According to data from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), the most popular baby names in Northern Ireland in 2014 were Emily and Jack.

Here are NI’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2014:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Emily, 261 baby girls
2. Grace, 189
3. Sophie, 180
4. Amelia, 175
5. Ella, 172
6. Olivia, 152
7. Anna, 150
8. Lucy, 149
9. Sophia, 148
10. Eva, 146		1. Jack, 285 baby boys
2. James, 276
3. Daniel, 236
4. Charlie, 224
5. Harry, 193
6. Noah, 190
7. Oliver, 155
8. Ethan, 153
9. Jacob, 148
10. Thomas, 147

Olivia and Eva replaced Aoife and Jessica in the girls’ top 10.

Thomas replaced Matthew in the boys’ top 10.

Two names that made big jumps into the top 100 were Kian (171st to 78th) and Aria (218th to 89th).

Finally, here are some of the unusual names that were given to only 1 or 2 babies in Northern Ireland last year:

Girl NamesBoy Names
Aoifrie, Cobhlaith, Cuisle, Deirbhile, Enfys, Ermioni, Ezraelle, Flossie-Bo, Ionagh, Ionela, Labhaoise, Loveday, Maoiliosa, Maureen-Nevaeh, Narbflaith, Rimgaile, Saorfhlaith, Saylor-Doll, Tsz, Vogue, ZiniferAodh, Benji-Beau, Caoilte, Cavani, Connlaoth, Davog, Dualta, Epaphroditus, Feidhlim, Goldberg, Grantas, Jecstonio, Jeef, Kal-El, Laochra, Laoghaire, Mjtba, Peanut, Seachlann, Stanex, Theo-Thaddeus, Tucgan

Here are the rankings for Northern Ireland for 2013.

Sources: NISRA – Demography, Most popular NI baby names for 2014 are Jack and Emily

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)

Baby name needed: Boy name for Eliza’s twin brother

A reader named Lucas is expecting twins, one boy and one girl, and would like help choosing the boy name:

Its decided that the girl will be named Eliza, we just couldn’t resist its streamlined modernity and Eliza Doolitte charm and spunk, but when it comes to boys names we’re completely stuck. We were thinking of Joseph, its classic and timeless but perhaps a little too conservative for a twin sister named Eliza?

Personally, I think Eliza and Joseph sound great together. They’re not an exact match in terms of tone, but the difference isn’t a huge one.

It’s too bad Joseph doesn’t offer much more than Joe and Joey in terms of nicknames, though. Eliza is a pet form of Elizabeth, so I wish Joseph shortened to something with more verve (e.g. Benji, Theo). But that’s the only drawback I can think of; it’s hard to go wrong with Joseph.

As for other boy name ideas, how about…

Amos
Asher
Benedict
Benjamin
Caleb
Calvin
Curtis
Cyrus
Declan
Desmond		Dexter
Duncan
Dwight
Felix
Frank
Gideon
Graham
Grant
Grover
Harvey		Henry
Hugh
Jasper
Levi
Maxwell
Malcolm
Milo
Monroe
Nigel
Nolan		Oscar
Otis
Owen
Roland
Roscoe
Silas
Simon
Stuart
Theodore
Tobias

So now, three questions for you: Does Joseph sound good with Eliza? Do any of the non-Joseph names listed above sound good with Eliza? And, finally, what other names would you suggest to Lucas?