girl's name
Rebecca
ruh-BEK-uh
- Origin Hebrew
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 866,941
the United States
#349
2025 births
Rebecca is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is unsettled, and the standard gloss involves a rope for tying cattle. It ranks 142nd in Ireland and 349th in the United States, and it is falling.
- Rebecca is a name of Hebrew origin.
- Peaked in 1981, when 16,801 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,802 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Rebecca over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 2,849 |
| 1890s | 3,660 |
| 1900s | 4,059 |
| 1910s | 9,496 |
| 1920s | 12,328 |
| 1930s | 12,679 |
| 1940s | 45,427 |
| 1950s | 115,894 |
| 1960s | 99,750 |
| 1970s | 137,818 |
| 1980s | 136,806 |
| 1990s | 109,907 |
| 2000s | 43,825 |
| 2010s | 17,495 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,113 |
What Rebecca means
Rebecca has no agreed meaning. To bind or to tie is the usual reading, from a root associated with a cord used on animals, and the ensnaring gloss that follows from it is a later gloss on a name whose sense was already lost.
Where Rebecca comes from
Rebecca comes through the Greek Rhebekka from the Hebrew Rivqah, whose derivation is genuinely unresolved. The traditional reading connects it to a root meaning to tie or bind, specifically a cord used to hobble young animals, and reference works have extended that to captivating or ensnaring — a gloss that says more about how the name was read than about where it came from. Rebecca in Genesis is Isaac's wife and the mother of Jacob and Esau; she overhears Isaac's intention to bless Esau and arranges for Jacob to take the blessing instead, which drives the rest of the narrative. The name entered English with the Reformation, when Old Testament names spread among Protestants, and Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel — in which Rebecca is dead before it begins — gave it a very different modern color.
Rebecca in use
Rebecca ranks 142nd in Ireland with 32 births in 2025 and 349th in the United States with 872 births, and it is falling in our data from a peak in 1981. Our records carry it from 1880. It appears in every market we hold, including 543rd in France, which is the signature of a name that was large across the West at once and is now receding everywhere together.
How popular is Rebecca?
In 2025, Rebecca was given to 872 babies in the United States, ranking #349 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Rebecca is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Rebecca is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Rébecca | Rébecca is Rebecca written with an acute accent, used in France, where it ranks #1,518. | 825 |
| Rébécca | Rébécca is a rare spelling of Rebecca, written with an acute accent and recorded about 90 times, mostly in France. | 90 |
Names that peaked alongside Rebecca
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Rebecca also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Rebecca over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
5 nicknames for Rebecca
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Rebecca in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Rebecca
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Rebecca — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Rebecca
What does the name Rebecca mean?
It is unsettled. To bind or tie is the usual reading, from a root for a cord used on young animals.
Who was Rebecca in the Bible?
Isaac's wife and mother of Jacob and Esau, who arranged for Jacob to receive the blessing meant for his brother.
Does Rebecca mean captivating?
That is a later extension of the binding reading rather than a derivation.
How popular is Rebecca?
142nd in Ireland and 349th in the United States.
Is Rebecca a girl's or a boy's name?
Rebecca is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Rebecca?
Rebecca has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Rebecca?
Rebecca is usually shortened to Becca, Becky, Reba, Beck and Bex.
Is Rebecca a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Rebecca currently ranks #142 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.