Rebeka
Feminine · “Not established”
Nobody knows what Rebecca means, and the usual guesses are not flattering. The root suggested is one for tying or binding, which has been glossed as a snare, a noose and a well-fed animal — none of them convincing, and none of them supported by the text.
How old is the name Rebeka?
Rebeka first appears in US birth records in 1957 — 68 years ago. The typical Rebeka alive today was born around 1996, making them about 29 years old. About 2,600 people named Rebeka are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rebeka most popular?
Rebeka peaked in 1991, reaching #1619 nationally. Today it ranks #7885, 6,266 places below that high. See the whole 1991 chart.
Where it comes from
From Rivka to Rebeka
The story of Rebeka
The Genesis narrative is unusually interested in Rebecca. She is introduced at a well in a long and carefully told scene, she is asked whether she consents to the marriage and answers for herself, and she later engineers the deception that transfers the blessing from Esau to Jacob — she is the one who acts, and Isaac is the one acted upon. For a book that names people with explanatory puns whenever it can, its silence about her name is conspicuous. The name entered English use after the Reformation and became a standard one. Rebeka is the Hungarian, Slovak and Croatian spelling; the American figures peak in 1991.
Meaningnot established
Not established — possibly from a root meaning to tie
Rivka has no secure derivation. A root r-b-q, associated with tying or with a stall-fed animal, is the most cited proposal, and the glosses drawn from it — a snare, a captivating beauty, a tied cord — are all reconstructions rather than documented meanings. Genesis offers no explanation of the name, unlike Isaac, Jacob and Moses. Rebeka is a Hungarian and Slavic spelling also used in America.
How the name formed
- Rivka
- Rebecca
- Rebeka
Related forms: Rebeka · Rebecca · רבקה
Pronouncing Rebeka
reh-BEK-ah
Three syllables, stress on the second. Hungarian stresses the first syllable as a fixed rule, REH-beh-kah, so the same spelling is weighted differently there.
Nicknames for Rebeka
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1957
- Most girls named
- 199193 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1619reached in 1991
- Change vs 2024
- +62.5%13 in 2025, from 8
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Rebeka in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rebeka in Hungarian — same name
- Rebecca in English — spelling variant
- רבקה in Hebrew — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Florida, California.
Rebekas among us
people named Rebeka are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 123,636 born in 2025 was named Rebeka
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Rebeka
- #7885
- Rebeka on the 2025 chart
- #245
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Rebeka went to 13 girls in 2025, but Rebecca, Rebekah and Rebeca are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 1,359, which makes it the 245th most-given girls’ name of the year — 7,640 places above the chart.
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 girl in 1,183 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 123,636 for Rebeka itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Nidia test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rebeka's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nidia climbed just as high around 1976, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nidia's path sketches the road Rebeka is walking now.
Rebeka sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Rebeka beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rebeka in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Becky and Reba are established short forms.
- It carries one of the most fully drawn characters in Genesis.
- The single-c spelling is standard across Central Europe.
- Rebecca is the standard English spelling and will be substituted.
- The meaning is genuinely unknown.
- The stress differs between English and Hungarian.
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What they receive
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Rebeka
Feminine · #7885 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rebekas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,600 people named Rebeka are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Rebeka?
- Rebeka is one of 4 recorded spellings. Rebecca is the more common one — 872 births in 2025 against 13 for Rebeka.
- How popular is the name Rebeka in 2025?
- Rebeka ranks #7885 among US girl names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rebeka?
- About 1 in every 123,636 US girls born in 2025 was named Rebeka — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rebeka with classmates?
- Rebeka will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rebeka
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ola#7885 · Loula#7885 · Consuelo#7885 · Santa#7885 · Florentina#7885 · Marty#7885 · Jaye#7885 · Dollie#7885
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rebeka? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rebeka and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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