boy's name
Benoît
ben-WAH
- Origin French
- Gender Boy
- Letters 6
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 129,838
Canada
#976
as Benoit, 2024
Benoît means blessed, and it is the French form of Benedict — the circumflex marks a lost s, so the older spelling was Benoist and the Latin behind it was benedictus, well-spoken-of. We record 127,212 lifetime births for it, strongest in France.
- Benoît is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1980, when 4,625 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 19,650 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1900.
Benoît over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 2,335 |
| 1910s | 1,740 |
| 1920s | 1,655 |
| 1930s | 1,195 |
| 1940s | 1,665 |
| 1950s | 5,325 |
| 1960s | 16,290 |
| 1970s | 32,665 |
| 1980s | 38,650 |
| 1990s | 17,655 |
| 2000s | 5,870 |
| 2010s | 1,350 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 340 |
What Benoît means
Benoît means blessed, or well spoken of. The Latin joins a word meaning well to one meaning spoken, so the literal sense is one of whom good things are said.
Where Benoît comes from
Benoît is the French Benedict, from the Latin benedictus — bene, well, joined to dictus, spoken. To bless someone was literally to speak well of them, which is the same logic behind benediction and the English blessing's older sense. The circumflex marks an s that French dropped in pronunciation and then in spelling: the older form was Benoist, as with hôpital from hospital and forêt from forest. Saint Benedict of Nursia wrote the Rule that shaped Western monasticism, and sixteen popes have taken the name.
Benoît in use
Benoît peaked in France in 1980, when 4,625 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in three of the seven markets we track — 976th in Canada, 1104th in France on 45 births and 6783rd in the United States on 13 — across 129,838 lifetime births. Our records carry it from 1900.
How popular is Benoît?
In 2025, Benoît was given to 30 babies in France. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Benoît is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Benoît is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Benoit | Benoit is a spelling of Benoît, used in Canada, where it ranks #976. | 4,103 |
Names that peaked alongside Benoît
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Benoît also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Benoît over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Benoît
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Benoît in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Benoît
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Benoît — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Benoît
What does the name Benoît mean?
Blessed — the Latin bene, well, joined to dictus, spoken.
Why is there a circumflex?
It marks a lost s. The older spelling was Benoist, as with hôpital from hospital.
Does blessed literally mean well spoken of?
In the Latin, yes. To bless was to speak well of someone.
How popular is Benoît?
1104th in France, down from a 1980 peak of 4,610 births.
Is Benoît a girl's or a boy's name?
Benoît is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
What are the nicknames for Benoît?
Benoît is usually shortened to Ben.
Is Benoît a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Benoît currently ranks #976 in France. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.