Meaning and background
The story behind Benji
Benji is a recognised English diminutive of Benjamin, with the usual pronunciation BEN-jee. It preserves the opening of the longer Biblical name but feels much more conversational. That shortening is a documented personal-name relationship, not evidence that the everyday short form has a separate Hebrew translation. It has also appeared as the title of dog films, although its derivation does not depend on them.
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Everyday moments“Benji, come here!”
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About Benji
Recorded as a dog’s name
Benji appears in 275 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
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Sources and research notes (1)
Gender association: NYC licence-period records. Any dog can use this name.
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.