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Boy · Hebrew
Reuben
Say it: ROO-bin
Meaning
Hebrew Re'uven, usually read as 'behold, a son'.
Likelythe main view, with some doubt.
Used by Puritans and Jewish families; the form Rubén is common in Spanish.
Its wave through time
Timeless: in steady use for over a century
In the United States
- 30,700 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1880, about 1 in 1,200 boys
- 241 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Biblical WorldAbout 1200 BC to AD 100
- The Colonial Americas1500 to 1800
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Ruben
| French | Ruben |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Rubén |
| Italian | Ruben |
| Portuguese | Rúben |
| German | Ruben |
| Dutch | Ruben |
| Hebrew | Reuven |
Famous bearers
- Reuben, eldest son of Jacob
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
- Puritan church and town records of England and New England
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.