Benfords

Benfords is a surname of English origin. It is most commonly found in English-speaking countries and appears in historic records dating back several centuries. The name is generally understood as a toponymic surname linked to places named Benford and related forms, though precise etymologies vary among families and regions.

In modern usage, the name is most widely associated with Benford's Law, a statistical principle named after Frank Benford, an American physicist who described the phenomenon in 1938. Benford's Law predicts that in many naturally occurring data sets, the leading digit is more likely to be small (for example, 1 appears as the first digit about 30% of the time). It has applications in fields such as accounting, fraud detection, and data integrity, and is subject to conditions tied to scale and distribution.

Because Benford is a relatively common surname, individuals bearing the name have pursued diverse careers across science, education, government, and the arts. Notable mentions in literature and reference works focus primarily on the surname's association with Benford's Law, rather than on a single prominent figure named Benford or Benfords. As a result, the term "Benfords" is typically encountered in genealogical contexts or as a plural form when referring to people with the surname or its variants.

See also: Benford's Law.