The name BENJAMIN was originally from the Hebrew male given name BINYAMIN 'son of the south'. In the Book of Genesis it is treated as meaning 'son of the right hand'. The two senses are connected, since in Hebrew the south is thought of as the right hand side of the person who is facing east. Benjamin was the youngest and favourite son of Jacob, and supposed progenitor of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. It is also a rare English and French surname for although the given name was not common among Gentiles in the middle Ages, its use was sanctioned by having been borne by a saint martyred in Persia in about AD424. In some cases in Medieval Europe, it was also applied as a byname or nickname to the youngest (and beloved) son of a large family. When the first immigrants from Europe went to America, the only names current in the new land were Indian names which did not appeal to Europeans vocally, and the Indian names did not influence the surnames or Christian names already possessed by the immigrants. Mostly the immigrant could not read or write and had little or no knowledge as to the proper spelling, and their names suffered at the hands of the government officials. The early town records are full of these mis-spelt names most of which gradually changed back to a more conventional spelling as education progressed. A notable member of this name was Judah Philip BENJAMIN (1811-84) the American lawyer born in St. Croix, West Indies, the son of Jewish parents en route from England to the United States. A lawyer in New Orleans, he early engaged in politics, serving first with the Whigs, and afterwards with the Democrats. He sat in the US Senate from 1852 to 1860 and in 1861, when Civil War broke out, joined Jefferson Davis's cabinet as attorney-general. He was for a few months secretary of war and then secretary of state until Davis's capture, when he escaped to England. He was called to the English bar in 1866 and became a QC in 1872, and wrote a legal classic 'The Sale of Personal Property' (1868). |
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