Likely a variant of Penuel or Benuel, a Hebrew name meaning “face of God” or “son of God.”
Benuel is a rare and venerable Hebrew name whose etymology reveals a quiet theological ambition. It is typically parsed as a compound of "ben" (son) and "El" (God), yielding the meaning "son of God" — placing it in the same sacred family as names like Bethuel ("house of God") and Penuel ("face of God"). In the Hebrew Bible, Penuel was the site where Jacob wrestled with the divine and received the name Israel; Bethuel was the father of Rebekah.
Benuel shares that same ancient landscape of covenant and encounter. The name has been most persistently used within Amish and Old Order Mennonite communities in North America, where scriptural names with deep roots and little secular noise are highly prized. In those communities, Benuel has been passed down through generations as a quiet mark of faith and continuity.
It is almost never encountered outside this cultural context, which gives it an unusual character: it is both ancient and intensely local, a name worn smooth by a very specific community's hands. For parents drawn to biblical names that go beyond the familiar tier of Jacob or Elijah, Benuel offers something genuinely distinctive. It sounds grounded and serious, with the warm familiarity of Ben tucked inside it — making it accessible to an ear that might otherwise find it strange. As interest in rare scriptural names grows among name enthusiasts, Benuel is beginning to surface in broader conversation as an overlooked gem.