Rebecca
Rebecca was given to 872 girls in 2025, #350 among girls’ names; 758,106 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 645,000 Americans named Rebecca and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (85% of everyone recorded); the median is 48 years old and half are between 35 and 62.
Rebecca is the #20 most common first name among living American women and girls, by this estimate.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Rebecca by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Rebecca mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Rebecca is “a female given name originating from the Bible [in turn from Hebrew], in regular use since the Reformation.” Its etymology gives the sense “enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare” (רִבְקָה).
The Vulgate (Latin) form of biblical Rebekah, from Hebrew רִבְקָה (Rivka, “enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”).
/ɹɪˈbɛkə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Rebecca?
#350 among girls’ names, 2025
Rebecca fell from #189 in 2015 to #350 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 1.0 to 0.54 per 1,000.
16,801 babies in 1981, the peak
Rebecca peaked in 1981, when 16,801 babies were given it (16,737 girls, #12 among girls’ names). The 872 births of 2025 are 5% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 872 | #350 | 0.54 |
| 2024 | 918 | #340 | 0.57 |
| 2023 | 985 | #315 | 0.61 |
| 2022 | 1,075 | #296 | 0.66 |
| 2021 | 1,051 | #304 | 0.64 |
| 2020 | 1,212 | #249 | 0.75 |
| 2019 | 1,263 | #263 | 0.75 |
| 2018 | 1,459 | #211 | 0.86 |
| 2017 | 1,433 | #214 | 0.83 |
| 2016 | 1,580 | #205 | 0.89 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,728 | #189 | 1.0 |
| 2014 | 1,782 | #181 | 1.0 |
| 2013 | 1,806 | #177 | 1.0 |
| 2012 | 2,019 | #157 | 1.1 |
| 2011 | 2,119 | #148 | 1.2 |
| 2010 | 2,299 | #134 | 1.3 |
| 2009 | 2,473 | #132 | 1.3 |
| 2008 | 2,922 | #118 | 1.5 |
| 2007 | 3,215 | #105 | 1.7 |
| 2006 | 3,573 | #96 | 1.9 |
| 2005 | 4,018 | #81 | 2.2 |
| 2004 | 4,474 | #70 | 2.4 |
| 2003 | 4,873 | #63 | 2.7 |
| 2002 | 5,222 | #54 | 2.9 |
| 2001 | 5,893 | #46 | 3.3 |
| 2000 | 7,078 | #39 | 3.9 |
| 1999 | 7,437 | #38 | 4.2 |
| 1998 | 8,423 | #30 | 4.8 |
| 1997 | 9,634 | #25 | 5.5 |
| 1996 | 10,626 | #24 | 6.1 |
| 1995 | 9,911 | #28 | 5.6 |
| 1994 | 11,284 | #24 | 6.3 |
| 1993 | 12,321 | #22 | 6.8 |
| 1992 | 13,110 | #20 | 7.1 |
| 1991 | 13,298 | #21 | 7.1 |
| 1990 | 13,677 | #21 | 7.2 |
| 1989 | 12,436 | #24 | 6.7 |
| 1988 | 11,877 | #26 | 6.7 |
| 1987 | 11,627 | #25 | 6.7 |
| 1986 | 11,793 | #26 | 6.9 |
| 1985 | 12,705 | #25 | 7.4 |
| 1984 | 13,348 | #23 | 7.9 |
| 1983 | 14,714 | #19 | 8.8 |
| 1982 | 15,730 | #15 | 9.3 |
| 1981 | 16,737 | #12 | 10.0 |
| 1980 | 15,281 | #17 | 9.2 |
| 1979 | 14,548 | #17 | 9.1 |
| 1978 | 13,796 | #17 | 9.0 |
| 1977 | 14,196 | #17 | 9.3 |
| 1976 | 14,491 | #12 | 9.9 |
| 1975 | 13,925 | #11 | 9.6 |
| 1974 | 15,163 | #10 | 10.3 |
| 1973 | 14,868 | #10 | 10.2 |
| 1972 | 13,252 | #14 | 8.7 |
| 1971 | 12,192 | #23 | 7.3 |
| 1970 | 10,854 | #29 | 6.2 |
| 1969 | 10,950 | #28 | 6.5 |
| 1968 | 10,225 | #33 | 6.2 |
| 1967 | 9,823 | #39 | 5.9 |
| 1966 | 9,777 | #40 | 5.8 |
| 1965 | 10,211 | #41 | 5.8 |
| 1964 | 9,474 | #46 | 5.0 |
| 1963 | 9,393 | #44 | 4.9 |
| 1962 | 9,403 | #47 | 4.8 |
| 1961 | 10,236 | #44 | 5.1 |
| 1960 | 9,970 | #38 | 4.9 |
| 1959 | 10,475 | #38 | 5.2 |
| 1958 | 10,416 | #41 | 5.2 |
| 1957 | 11,482 | #34 | 5.6 |
| 1956 | 12,168 | #27 | 6.1 |
| 1955 | 12,398 | #27 | 6.3 |
| 1954 | 13,208 | #26 | 6.8 |
| 1953 | 12,959 | #24 | 6.9 |
| 1952 | 12,227 | #30 | 6.6 |
| 1951 | 10,932 | #32 | 6.1 |
| 1950 | 9,425 | #36 | 5.5 |
| 1949 | 8,778 | #40 | 5.1 |
| 1948 | 6,795 | #50 | 4.0 |
| 1947 | 6,333 | #52 | 3.6 |
| 1946 | 4,840 | #68 | 3.1 |
| 1945 | 3,331 | #85 | 2.5 |
| 1944 | 3,246 | #84 | 2.4 |
| 1943 | 3,270 | #87 | 2.3 |
| 1942 | 3,241 | #85 | 2.4 |
| 1941 | 2,924 | #86 | 2.4 |
| 1940 | 2,555 | #96 | 2.2 |
| 1939 | 1,796 | #134 | 1.6 |
| 1938 | 1,573 | #145 | 1.4 |
| 1937 | 1,210 | #166 | 1.1 |
| 1936 | 1,200 | #164 | 1.2 |
| 1935 | 1,208 | #163 | 1.2 |
| 1934 | 1,161 | #165 | 1.1 |
| 1933 | 1,072 | #169 | 1.1 |
| 1932 | 1,192 | #162 | 1.1 |
| 1931 | 1,089 | #170 | 1.0 |
| 1930 | 1,114 | #176 | 1.0 |
| 1929 | 1,084 | #181 | 1.0 |
| 1928 | 1,121 | #183 | 1.0 |
| 1927 | 1,260 | #170 | 1.1 |
| 1926 | 1,144 | #185 | 1.0 |
| 1925 | 1,203 | #183 | 1.0 |
| 1924 | 1,358 | #171 | 1.1 |
| 1923 | 1,274 | #174 | 1.1 |
| 1922 | 1,296 | #173 | 1.1 |
| 1921 | 1,272 | #175 | 1.0 |
| 1920 | 1,269 | #175 | 1.1 |
| 1919 | 1,267 | #170 | 1.1 |
| 1918 | 1,243 | #172 | 1.1 |
| 1917 | 1,215 | #165 | 1.1 |
| 1916 | 1,132 | #169 | 1.1 |
| 1915 | 1,169 | #159 | 1.2 |
| 1914 | 890 | #162 | 1.2 |
| 1913 | 739 | #158 | 1.2 |
| 1912 | 754 | #144 | 1.4 |
| 1911 | 546 | #148 | 1.3 |
| 1910 | 519 | #154 | 1.3 |
| 1909 | 470 | #151 | 1.4 |
| 1908 | 451 | #149 | 1.3 |
| 1907 | 400 | #159 | 1.3 |
| 1906 | 397 | #150 | 1.3 |
| 1905 | 402 | #148 | 1.4 |
| 1904 | 371 | #146 | 1.3 |
| 1903 | 334 | #154 | 1.3 |
| 1902 | 382 | #144 | 1.4 |
| 1901 | 342 | #144 | 1.4 |
| 1900 | 503 | #126 | 1.7 |
| 1899 | 347 | #135 | 1.5 |
| 1898 | 376 | #136 | 1.5 |
| 1897 | 376 | #129 | 1.6 |
| 1896 | 371 | #128 | 1.6 |
| 1895 | 386 | #122 | 1.7 |
| 1894 | 399 | #118 | 1.8 |
| 1893 | 358 | #121 | 1.7 |
| 1892 | 353 | #125 | 1.7 |
| 1891 | 320 | #123 | 1.7 |
| 1890 | 374 | #107 | 2.0 |
| 1889 | 337 | #114 | 1.9 |
| 1888 | 337 | #111 | 1.9 |
| 1887 | 275 | #110 | 1.9 |
| 1886 | 355 | #95 | 2.5 |
| 1885 | 302 | #99 | 2.3 |
| 1884 | 278 | #102 | 2.2 |
| 1883 | 244 | #103 | 2.2 |
| 1882 | 259 | #99 | 2.4 |
| 1881 | 226 | #96 | 2.5 |
| 1880 | 236 | #92 | 2.6 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Rebecca a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Rebecca has been given almost only to girls: 2,114 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Rebecca: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Rebecca, and how old are they?
645,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 85% of the 758,106 Americans ever recorded as Rebecca. The median Rebecca alive today is 48 years old; half are between 35 and 62.
The 2020 Census counted 645,350 people named Rebecca (644,902 women and girls, 448 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 663,661 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 12,500 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 150,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 190,000 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 200,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 74,900 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 17,100 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Rebecca born?
The states with the most babies named Rebecca are California, Texas and Ohio, with 22% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 65,954 | #369 | 0.8× |
| Texas | 54,310 | #307 | 1.0× |
| Ohio | 41,806 | #469 | 1.1× |
| New York | 40,084 | #253 | 0.7× |
| Pennsylvania | 38,546 | #192 | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 33,163 | #467 | 0.9× |
| Michigan | 29,326 | #517 | 0.9× |
| North Carolina | 23,830 | #343 | 1.1× |
| Florida | 23,758 | #402 | 0.9× |
| Indiana | 23,028 | #391 | 1.2× |
Where Rebecca is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Rebecca is most over-represented in West Virginia: since 1910 it was given 1.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Rebecca with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 860,145 babies since 1880, Rebecca is the most given (88% of them). In 2025 it was given to 872 of their 1,359 babies (64%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Rebecca
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Rebecca and names like it
- Compare Rebecca and RebekahBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1980sRebecca peaked in 1981.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Rebecca since 1910.
- The top names of 1981The year the most babies were named Rebecca.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Rebecca alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with RMost given first.