Rebeckah
A feminine variant of Rebecca, meaning "to bind" or "to tie" in Hebrew.
Name Census estimates that about 617 living Americans carry the first name Rebeckah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rebeckah today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rebeckah births was 1996 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rebeckah. 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 Rebeckah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
617
~ 1 in 555,518 Americans
Peak year
1996
26 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2015 SSA rank
#18,539
Tracked since 1956
Census
Rebeckah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 660 people with the first name Rebeckah, which placed it at #16,913 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
#16,913
National first-name rank
People counted
660
660 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rebeckah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rebeckah is White at 79.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.6%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Rebeckah 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 Rebeckah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.7% · 526
- Hispanic or Latino10.6% · 70
- Two or more races4.7% · 31
- Black or African American2.7% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 6
Popularity
Rebeckah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rebeckah from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 193 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rebeckah 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 Rebeckah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rebeckahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rebeckah
The name Rebeckah is a variant spelling of the biblical name Rebecca, which has its origins in the Hebrew language. The name Rebecca can be traced back to the Old Testament of the Bible, where it is the name of the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. The name is derived from the Hebrew word "ribhqah," which means "to tie firmly" or "to bind."
In the Book of Genesis, Rebecca is described as a beautiful and virtuous woman who played a pivotal role in the biblical narrative. She is celebrated for her wisdom and her ability to discern God's will. The name Rebecca has been popular among Jewish and Christian communities for centuries due to its biblical significance.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Rebecca can be found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts dating back to the 3rd century BCE. The name is also mentioned in various other ancient texts, including the Talmud and the writings of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Rebecca or Rebeckah. One of the most famous is Rebecca Nurse, an American woman who was accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and was ultimately hanged for her alleged crimes. Another notable Rebecca is Rebecca Gratz, an American Jewish philanthropist and educator who lived from 1781 to 1869 and was known for her work in promoting education and social welfare.
In literature, one of the most famous literary characters named Rebecca is Rebecca of York, the heroine of Sir Walter Scott's novel "Ivanhoe," published in 1819. Rebecca is depicted as a beautiful and intelligent Jewish woman who faces persecution during the time of the Crusades.
Other notable individuals with the name Rebecca include Rebecca West, an English author, journalist, and literary critic who lived from 1892 to 1983; Rebecca Lobo, an American basketball player and Olympic gold medalist; and Rebecca Minkoff, an American fashion designer and entrepreneur.
While the name Rebeckah is a less common spelling variant, it carries the same rich historical and cultural significance as the more traditional spelling of Rebecca. The name has endured through the centuries and continues to be popular among those who appreciate its biblical roots and timeless appeal.
People
Rebeckah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rebeckah 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
Rebeckah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rebeckah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 617 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rebeckah 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 555,518 US residents.
Is Rebeckah a common name?
We classify Rebeckah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 652 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rebeckah most popular?
The single biggest year for Rebeckah was 1996, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rebeckah is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rebeckah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 660 people with the name Rebeckah, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,913 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 Rebeckah 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 Rebeckah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rebeckah appears almost entirely female. Of the 659 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 Rebeckah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rebeckah is White at 79.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.6%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Rebeckah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rebeckah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.7% (526 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 Rebeckah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rebeckah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rebeckah 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 Rebeckah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rebeckah 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 Rebeckah 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 common is the name Rebeckah?
You can see how many Americans are named Rebeckah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.