It's a pretty uncommon name, at least for people my age. When I was a kid I was often teased because I was a little pudgy, and becasue I wasn't all that well-adjusted. And of course the kids, in their cruelty, would almost always focus in on my name becasue it was something that made me different. It's hard to imagine how hateful the word "Benson" can be made to sound if you haven't lived through what I have.
But in high school I started hanging out with the "alternative" crowd, and having such a unique name became a something to be proud of. I'd tell my friends that in New Zealand it was an aristocratic name, and that my parents named me after the King of New Zealand. In my 1982 High School Yearbook I am given the nickname "King Benson of the Maori"... I can't believe that I was so full of shit, and I'm even more amazed that my ignorant friends believed it. But let me tell you, as a highschooler with the name Benson and the right attitude, the possibilities for pussy were absolutely huge.