Rebecca

What Rebecca means

Means “enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”

The Vulgate (Latin) form of biblical Rebekah, from Hebrew רִבְקָה (Rivka, “enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Rebecca” (revision 93673336), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Rebecca?

US: Falling: down from #188 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #140 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1974, when 15,163 girls got the name (#10 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,843 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,584 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,376 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NH (1.32 per 1,000 girls), PA (1.29 per 1,000 girls), NE (1.13 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Rebecca is #349 in the US and #413 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Rebecca were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Rebeccah
• Rebekah
• Rebekka

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Rebecca

Girls

• Jamie#857Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1977, with 12,895 babies; 316 in 2025
• Jessica#665possibly “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe…^*
• Rachel#250“ewe”^*
• Sarah#90“masters, princes”^*
• Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”^*
• Mary#125Same root as Miriam, possibly meaning “bitter”^*

For a brother

• John#23possibly “God is gracious”^*
• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*
• Mark#244Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 58,727 babies; 1,416 in 2025
• Michael#21“who is like God?”^*
• Stephen#383“crown, wreath”^*
• Jon#951Variant of John, possibly meaning “God is gracious”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Rebecca’s. Rank is US 2025.