Reba
A diminutive of Rebecca, meaning "captivating" or "ensnaring" in Hebrew.
Name Census estimates that about 10,955 living Americans carry the first name Reba. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Reba today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Reba births was 1925 (792 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Reba. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Reba with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Reba is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 60 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 31,287 Americans
Peak year
1925
792 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1939 SSA rank
#3,865
Tracked since 1880
Census
Reba in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 13,764 people with the first name Reba, which placed it at #1,996 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,996
National first-name rank
People counted
14K
13,764 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Reba
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reba is White at 82.1%. The next largest groups are Black (10.6%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Reba described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Reba at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.1% · 11,298
- Black or African American10.6% · 1,460
- Two or more races3.0% · 416
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 231
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 193
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 166
Gender
Gender distribution for Reba
Out of the 35,481 babies given the name Reba since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Reba as a male name
- Ranked #3,865 in 1939
- 5 male births in 1939
- Peak: 1926 (8 births)
Reba as a female name
- Ranked #6,091 in 2024
- 20 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1925 (792 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Reba appears almost entirely female. Of the 13,767 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Reba: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Reba from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 7,343 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Reba by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Reba during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rebas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. Tennessee, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Reba, while Wisconsin, Washington, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 860 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Reba
The name Reba originated from the Hebrew language and culture, likely during the biblical era. It is believed to be derived from the Hebrew word "revav," which means "abundance" or "plenty." The name may have also been influenced by the Hebrew word "rebah," meaning "fourth," as it was sometimes used to refer to the fourth daughter in a family.
In the Old Testament, the name Reba is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the daughter of Asher, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. However, it is unclear whether this reference is to an actual person or a personification of the tribe itself.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Reba was Reba the Selenite, a philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 5th century BCE. She is credited with developing a method for determining the height of mountains by measuring their shadows.
In the Middle Ages, there was a renowned scholar and poet named Reba ben Ezra, who was born in Andalusia, Spain, in the 12th century. She wrote extensively on topics ranging from philosophy to astronomy and is considered a pioneering figure in the golden age of Jewish culture in Spain.
During the Renaissance, Reba Castellani was an influential Italian painter and sculptor who lived in the 15th century. She is best known for her religious works, including frescoes and altarpieces commissioned by churches and wealthy patrons.
In the 19th century, Reba Merrill was an American educator and author who founded the Merrill Academy for Young Ladies in New Hampshire. She wrote several books on education and was a prominent figure in the early women's rights movement.
More recently, Reba McEntire, born in 1955, is a renowned American country music singer and actress. She has released numerous successful albums, won numerous awards, and starred in various television shows and films throughout her career, cementing her status as one of the most influential and successful country artists of all time.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Reba throughout history, reflecting its enduring legacy across different cultures, time periods, and disciplines.
People
Reba + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Reba as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Reba: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Reba?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,955 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Reba going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 31,287 US residents.
Is Reba a common name?
We classify Reba as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 35,481 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Reba most popular?
The single biggest year for Reba was 1925, when 792 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Reba is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Reba in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 13,764 people with the name Reba, or 4.56 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,996 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Reba in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Reba?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Reba appears almost entirely female. Of the 13,767 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Reba?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reba is White at 82.1%. The next largest groups are Black (10.6%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Reba most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Reba in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.1% (11,298 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Reba in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Reba a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Reba in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Reba still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Reba in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Reba can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Reba?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.