How Many People Are Named Benita Smith?
There are approximately 73 people named Benita Smith living in the United States today. That makes this name combination rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 4,695,265 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Benita with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Smith. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.
Estimated People with This Name
73
1 in 4,695,265 Americans
Combination Rarity
Rare
First Name
View full profileBenita
Last Name
View full profileSmith
Benita: Popularity Over Time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Benita. The peak year was 1961 with 480 births. The average person named Benita today is 58 years old.
Ancestry of the First Name Benita
In the 2020 Census, the first name Benita was most commonly recorded among people who identified as Hispanic (35.78%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (28.62%) and White (27.65%).
These percentages describe the people who had the first name Benita in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.
Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how Benita rose or fell over time.
Ancestry of the Smith Surname
The surname Smith was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White in the 2020 Census.
This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Smith in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.
How we calculated this
The first name "Benita" has an estimated frequency of < 0.0001% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.
The surname "Smith" appears at a rate of 792.79 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.
We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name Benita are likely to be alive now.
Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 73 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.
Other people named Benita
Other people with the surname Smith
Benita Smith: Questions and Answers
How many people are named Benita Smith?
We estimate approximately 73 people named Benita Smith are alive in the United States today. The first name Benita is shared by 9,170 Americans, and the surname Smith is shared by 2,717,332.
How rare is the name Benita Smith?
This name combination is classified as Rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 4,695,265 Americans. The first name Benita is rare and the surname Smith is very common.
Is Benita a male or female name?
Benita is predominantly female, with 0.0% of bearers being male and 100.0% female. It peaked in popularity in 1961 and the average bearer today is 58 years old.
What does the Census say about the first name Benita?
In the 2020 Census, the first name Benita was most commonly recorded among people who identified as Hispanic (35.78%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (28.62%) and White (27.65%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.
Where does this data come from?
First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.
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