Benally
A Navajo surname, often seen as a family name of Native American origin in the Southwest.
The #6,155 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 55,510 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Benally is widely understood as a Navajo surname rather than a name from Old World European roots. Many Navajo surnames were created or standardized during the 19th and early 20th centuries from existing Navajo names, clan references, or words recorded in English spelling by officials and missionaries. The exact literal meaning of Benally is not securely established in standard surname references, so it is best treated as a Navajo family name with uncertain internal derivation in its modern spelling.
History
The surname is strongly associated with Navajo communities in Arizona, New Mexico, and neighboring parts of the U.S. Southwest. Like many Native American surnames in English records, it was often fixed in written form relatively recently and may reflect a transcription of a Navajo name whose original form and meaning varied by family line. It is now a well-established surname among Diné bearers in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because many Navajo surnames were standardized only after contact-era recordkeeping, the same family name can sometimes appear with several spellings in older documents.