Rubin
Masculine · “Behold”
Rubin is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 7,054 boys against 16 girls since 1880.
Rubin is a spelling of Reuben, and the biblical name is a small piece of dialogue: Leah names her first son and says, see, a son. It is also a surname carried by a great many Jewish families, which is why the spelling with an i is as common as it is.
How old is the name Rubin?
Rubin was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Rubin alive today was born around 1946, making them about 79 years old. About 3,300 people named Rubin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rubin most popular?
Rubin peaked in 1907, reaching #381 nationally. Today it ranks #5399, 5,018 places below that high. See the whole 1907 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Rəʾūḇēn to Rubin
The story of Rubin
Reuben was Jacob's eldest son and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes, and he loses his birthright in Genesis for sleeping with his father's concubine — the name is well established despite the story. Jews across the diaspora used it steadily, and Yiddish and German gave Rubin, which also served as a surname. The American peak in 1907 belongs to the great eastern European Jewish migration; the name was used by Christian families too, and the American cook's sandwich called a Reuben is named after one of several disputed people. It has been rare since the 1950s.
Meaning
Behold, a son
From Hebrew Rəʾūḇēn, understood in Genesis 29:32 as rəʾū bēn, see, a son — Leah's words at the birth. The reading is the one the text itself gives, which is unusual and makes it hard to dispute. The Rubin spelling is a German and Yiddish form, and is also the German word for a ruby, which has reinforced it as a surname.
How the name formed
- Rəʾūḇēn
- Reuben
- Rubin
Related forms: רְאוּבֵן · Ruben · Rubén · Ruvn · Reuben
Pronouncing Rubin
ROO-bin
Two syllables, stress on the first. Spanish Rubén puts the weight on the second, roo-BEN. German Rubin also stresses the second syllable, roo-BEEN.
Nicknames for Rubin
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1923147 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #381reached in 1907
- Change vs 2022
- −10.5%17 in 2025, from 19
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.
Rubin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- רְאוּבֵן in Hebrew — related form
- Ruben in German — spelling variant
- Rubén in Spanish — related form
- Ruvn in Yiddish — related form
- Reuben in English — spelling variant
Rubins among us
people named Rubin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 100,475 born in 2025 was named Rubin
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Rubin 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
Rubin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rubin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and given in the biblical text itself.
- It works as both a given name and a surname in several languages.
- Two syllables and five letters keep it simple.
- Reuben and Ruben are both commoner and will be written for it.
- The short form Rube has an unflattering sense in American English.
- It is strongly associated with the immigrant generations before 1930.
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Rubin
Masculine · #5399 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rubins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,300 people named Rubin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rubin in 2025?
- Rubin ranks #5399 among US boy names in 2025, with 17 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rubin?
- About 1 in every 100,475 US boys born in 2025 was named Rubin — 17 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rubin with classmates?
- Rubin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rubin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Frazier#5399 · Franz#5399 · Demetrio#5399 · Rolan#5399 · Rayvon#5399 · Riddick#5399 · Laramie#5399 · Soloman#5399
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rubin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rubin and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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