Benjamin in Cursive

Before you start, here is what is in the name. These facts come from the letters themselves, using the same school-style cursive model as the drawing above.

Benjamin is written with 8 letters: B, e, n, j, a, m, i, n. The picture shows each different letter on its own, with the shape to aim for. The table below it lists every join in order, so you can see where the pen has to travel between letters.

The joins, one by one

A join is the connecting stroke between two letters. Where it starts depends on the letter you just finished, and where it ends depends on the letter coming next. This table follows the school-style model used for the drawings on this site; some programs use slightly different joins.

The capital B

The capital B starts with a tall downstroke, then retraces up and makes two bumps on the right, the upper bump smaller than the lower. It finishes at the baseline with a small exit into the e. Keep the stem straight and the bumps round. If the bumps are the same size, the B looks like an 8 lying on its side.

n into j: a rising join to a descender

After the e and n the name goes into j. The n ends at the baseline, and the j starts at the middle line, so the connector rises. The j then drops below the baseline with a tail and loops back. The j is the only descender in the name, so it needs room below the line. If the tail is too short it looks like an i; if the tail is too long it collides with the line below.

m, i, n: five humps and an upright

The name ends with m, i, n: three humps, a narrow upright and two more humps. The common failure is for the humps to drift in height. Keep all five humps the same height and width and write the i narrower than any hump. Then go back and add the dots, one over the j and one over the i, directly above their stems and at the same height.

These are the slips that show up most often with this name. Check your own lines against the list before you move on.

• Making the two bumps of the B the same size.
• A j with no tail, so it reads as an i.
• Uneven humps in m and n.
• Dotting the j and i before finishing the word.

Split the name into three chunks: Ben, jam, in. Write each chunk ten times, then join Benjam and finally the whole name. The capital B and the j each need their own line of practice, since neither appears often elsewhere. A longer name also tests spacing; on lined paper with wide rows, the j tail has space to drop. See the lined paper page.

The one-page PDF has the name once in black as a model, two grey rows to trace, a blank ruled row and the short forms of Benjamin to trace underneath. It prints on Letter or A4. For another name or a full class set, use the worksheet generator, and for blank ruled paper see cursive lined paper.

Ben, Benny and Benji are the usual short forms. Ben is a capital B, an e and an n, so it removes the j. Benji brings the j back with its tail. Writing Ben first and then Benji is an easy way to build up to the full eight-letter name.

Benjamin is usually glossed from Hebrew as son of the right hand, though some sources give son of the south. In Genesis, Benjamin is the youngest of Jacob’s sons, and Jacob is also on this site. It has been used in English for centuries.

Benjamin Franklin (1706 to 1790) is one of the best-known bearers. He lived when cursive was the everyday hand, so a cursive Benjamin matches the way his name was normally written.