M'Benga was a Federation Starfleet medical officer on active duty during at least the 23rd century. M'Benga had no canonical given name. In the TOS novels The Vulcan Academy Murders and The IDIC Epidemic, it was said to be Geoffrey. In the continuity of Orion Press, his full name was Baraka Keme M'Benga (nicknamed "Keme", though he allowed Leonard McCoy to call him "Ben"). In the Star Trek: Vanguard novels, his given name was Jabilo. M'Benga was of Zulu and Masai descent (Orion Press: "To Leap Tall Buildings").