Reubin
A masculine Hebrew name meaning "behold, a son".
Name Census estimates that about 188 living Americans carry the first name Reubin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Reubin today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Reubin births was 1919 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Reubin. 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 Reubin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Reubin is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Reubins were born before 1968.
People living today
188
~ 1 in 1,823,161 Americans
Peak year
1919
25 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
2002 SSA rank
#10,385
Tracked since 1884
Census
Reubin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 209 people with the first name Reubin, which placed it at #37,369 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
#37,369
National first-name rank
People counted
209
209 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Reubin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reubin is White at 43.5%. The next largest groups are Black (34.0%) and Hispanic (12.4%). 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 Reubin 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 Reubin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.5% · 91
- Black or African American34.0% · 71
- Hispanic or Latino12.4% · 26
- Two or more races5.7% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 3
Popularity
Reubin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Reubin from the 1880s through to the 2000s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 176 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
Reubin 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 Reubin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Reubins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Georgia, Texas, Alabama recorded the most babies named Reubin, while Alabama, Texas, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Reubin
The name Reubin has its origins in the Hebrew language and can be traced back to ancient biblical times. It is a variant spelling of the name Reuben, which is derived from the Hebrew phrase "ra'ah ben" meaning "behold, a son" or "he has seen my misery."
Reuben was one of the twelve sons of Jacob and a major figure in the Book of Genesis. In the biblical narrative, Reuben is described as the firstborn son of Jacob and his wife Leah. As the eldest son, he held a significant position within the family and was expected to inherit a double portion of his father's estate.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Reubin can be found in medieval English records from the 13th century. During this period, the name was often spelled as "Reubin" or "Rewbyn," reflecting the influence of Norman French on English orthography.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Reubin. One of the most prominent was Reubin Askew (1928-2022), an American lawyer and politician who served as the 37th Governor of Florida from 1971 to 1979. He was known for his commitment to racial equality and environmental conservation.
Another notable figure was Reubin Levi (1923-2002), a British-born American businessman and philanthropist. He co-founded the iconic clothing brand Tommy Hilfiger and was actively involved in various charitable organizations supporting education and healthcare.
In the realm of literature, Reubin Saillens (1855-1942) was a notable French writer and poet. He was a member of the Académie Goncourt and is best known for his poetry collections, including "Les Humbles" (The Humble Ones) and "Les Chansons des Gueux" (Songs of the Beggars).
In the field of music, Reubin Levi (1865-1937) was an American composer and conductor. He is particularly remembered for his work as the principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1919 to 1936, where he conducted numerous operas and helped shape the company's artistic direction.
Lastly, Reubin Askew (1776-1858) was an American farmer and politician who served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in the early 19th century, representing Pittsylvania County.
People
Reubin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Reubin 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
Reubin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Reubin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 188 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Reubin 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 1,823,161 US residents.
Is Reubin a common name?
We classify Reubin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 636 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Reubin most popular?
The single biggest year for Reubin was 1919, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Reubin is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Reubin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 209 people with the name Reubin, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,369 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 Reubin 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 Reubin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Reubin appears almost entirely male. Of the 203 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Reubin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reubin is White at 43.5%. The next largest groups are Black (34.0%) and Hispanic (12.4%). 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 Reubin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Reubin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.5% (91 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 Reubin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Reubin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Reubin in the SSA data are male. 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 Reubin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Reubin 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 Reubin 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 share the name Reubin?
Want to know how many Americans are named Reubin? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.