Rebecca
Hebrew Rivqah, of uncertain meaning; “to tie” or “snare” is the usual guess.
Popularity, 1880–2025
The matriarch at the well in Genesis, a steady American classic with peaks in the 1970s.
Rebecca appears in the national records from the very first year, 1880. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American girls in 72 different years between 1880 and 2006. Its biggest year was 1981, when 16,737 newborn girls received the name, ranking it No. 12 nationally. Its best ranking came in 1973, at No. 10. In 2025 it ranked No. 349 for girls. All told, 758,106 Americans have been given the name since 1880.
Related names
Other spellings on record: Rebekah (75,915), Rebeca (14,198), Rebecka (3,319), Rebeka (2,660), Rebbecca (2,315), Rebekka (2,061) (total births since 1880)
Explore Rebecca interactively →By the decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 2,849 | No. 92 |
| 1890s | 3,660 | No. 107 |
| 1900s | 4,052 | No. 125 |
| 1910s | 9,474 | No. 144 |
| 1920s | 12,281 | No. 170 |
| 1930s | 12,615 | No. 134 |
| 1940s | 45,313 | No. 40 |
| 1950s | 115,690 | No. 24 |
| 1960s | 99,462 | No. 28 |
| 1970s | 137,285 | No. 10 |
| 1980s | 136,248 | No. 12 |
| 1990s | 109,721 | No. 20 |
| 2000s | 43,741 | No. 39 |
| 2010s | 17,488 | No. 134 |
| 2020s | 6,113 | No. 248 |
Births and rank shown for girls, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.
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Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.