Reuben
Reuben was given to 269 boys in 2025, #889 among boys’ names; 32,190 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 17,800 Americans named Reuben and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (55% of everyone recorded); the median is 38 years old and half are between 19 and 56.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Reuben by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Reuben mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Reuben is “a male given name from Hebrew.” Its etymology gives the senses “see [masculine plural imperative]” (רְאוּ) and “son” (בֵּן) and “See, all: a son!” (roughly,).
From Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (r’uvén), from רְאוּ (r'ú, “see [masculine plural imperative]”) + בֵּן (ben, “son”); its literal meaning is therefore roughly, “See, all: a son!”
There are several unconfirmed etymologies for the name of the sandwich.
/ˈɹu.bən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Reuben?
#889 among boys’ names, 2025
Reuben fell from #868 in 2015 to #889 in 2025 among boys’ names, although its share of boys born rose from 0.13 to 0.16 per 1,000.
465 babies in 1920, the peak
Reuben peaked in 1920, when 465 boys were given it, #254 among boys’ names. The 269 births of 2025 are 58% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 269 | #889 | 0.16 |
| 2024 | 283 | #860 | 0.16 |
| 2023 | 303 | #812 | 0.18 |
| 2022 | 285 | #852 | 0.16 |
| 2021 | 263 | #883 | 0.15 |
| 2020 | 246 | #909 | 0.14 |
| 2019 | 245 | #893 | 0.14 |
| 2018 | 229 | #928 | 0.13 |
| 2017 | 240 | #897 | 0.13 |
| 2016 | 251 | #875 | 0.13 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 258 | #868 | 0.13 |
| 2014 | 267 | #844 | 0.14 |
| 2013 | 237 | #880 | 0.13 |
| 2012 | 215 | #947 | 0.11 |
| 2011 | 215 | #931 | 0.11 |
| 2010 | 202 | #978 | 0.11 |
| 2009 | 242 | #874 | 0.12 |
| 2008 | 223 | #919 | 0.11 |
| 2007 | 226 | #891 | 0.11 |
| 2006 | 236 | #854 | 0.11 |
| 2005 | 222 | #837 | 0.11 |
| 2004 | 226 | #800 | 0.11 |
| 2003 | 233 | #760 | 0.12 |
| 2002 | 236 | #739 | 0.12 |
| 2001 | 220 | #774 | 0.11 |
| 2000 | 215 | #773 | 0.11 |
| 1999 | 234 | #708 | 0.12 |
| 1998 | 231 | #719 | 0.12 |
| 1997 | 205 | #738 | 0.11 |
| 1996 | 225 | #705 | 0.12 |
| 1995 | 226 | #703 | 0.12 |
| 1994 | 247 | #660 | 0.13 |
| 1993 | 240 | #665 | 0.12 |
| 1992 | 249 | #659 | 0.12 |
| 1991 | 275 | #614 | 0.14 |
| 1990 | 304 | #581 | 0.15 |
| 1989 | 287 | #576 | 0.14 |
| 1988 | 274 | #556 | 0.14 |
| 1987 | 292 | #527 | 0.16 |
| 1986 | 295 | #515 | 0.16 |
| 1985 | 279 | #523 | 0.15 |
| 1984 | 255 | #545 | 0.14 |
| 1983 | 240 | #543 | 0.13 |
| 1982 | 267 | #523 | 0.15 |
| 1981 | 276 | #508 | 0.15 |
| 1980 | 294 | #495 | 0.16 |
| 1979 | 267 | #515 | 0.16 |
| 1978 | 295 | #473 | 0.18 |
| 1977 | 287 | #476 | 0.17 |
| 1976 | 269 | #483 | 0.17 |
| 1975 | 229 | #530 | 0.15 |
| 1974 | 245 | #507 | 0.16 |
| 1973 | 212 | #538 | 0.14 |
| 1972 | 231 | #518 | 0.14 |
| 1971 | 259 | #506 | 0.15 |
| 1970 | 248 | #512 | 0.13 |
| 1969 | 160 | #621 | 0.09 |
| 1968 | 181 | #566 | 0.10 |
| 1967 | 178 | #562 | 0.10 |
| 1966 | 174 | #574 | 0.10 |
| 1965 | 214 | #525 | 0.12 |
| 1964 | 236 | #510 | 0.12 |
| 1963 | 246 | #512 | 0.12 |
| 1962 | 214 | #544 | 0.10 |
| 1961 | 222 | #534 | 0.10 |
| 1960 | 251 | #498 | 0.12 |
| 1959 | 242 | #506 | 0.11 |
| 1958 | 216 | #523 | 0.10 |
| 1957 | 241 | #499 | 0.11 |
| 1956 | 220 | #510 | 0.10 |
| 1955 | 221 | #496 | 0.11 |
| 1954 | 180 | #538 | 0.09 |
| 1953 | 201 | #495 | 0.10 |
| 1952 | 246 | #451 | 0.13 |
| 1951 | 220 | #456 | 0.12 |
| 1950 | 206 | #463 | 0.12 |
| 1949 | 207 | #457 | 0.12 |
| 1948 | 213 | #457 | 0.12 |
| 1947 | 202 | #474 | 0.11 |
| 1946 | 227 | #422 | 0.14 |
| 1945 | 181 | #442 | 0.13 |
| 1944 | 204 | #426 | 0.15 |
| 1943 | 201 | #447 | 0.14 |
| 1942 | 222 | #412 | 0.16 |
| 1941 | 213 | #396 | 0.17 |
| 1940 | 190 | #425 | 0.16 |
| 1939 | 178 | #427 | 0.16 |
| 1938 | 217 | #382 | 0.20 |
| 1937 | 203 | #387 | 0.19 |
| 1936 | 209 | #378 | 0.20 |
| 1935 | 227 | #359 | 0.22 |
| 1934 | 225 | #363 | 0.22 |
| 1933 | 229 | #359 | 0.23 |
| 1932 | 248 | #351 | 0.24 |
| 1931 | 250 | #349 | 0.24 |
| 1930 | 283 | #329 | 0.26 |
| 1929 | 290 | #326 | 0.27 |
| 1928 | 303 | #321 | 0.27 |
| 1927 | 375 | #297 | 0.33 |
| 1926 | 367 | #298 | 0.33 |
| 1925 | 361 | #301 | 0.32 |
| 1924 | 435 | #273 | 0.38 |
| 1923 | 426 | #275 | 0.39 |
| 1922 | 439 | #271 | 0.40 |
| 1921 | 399 | #278 | 0.36 |
| 1920 | 465 | #254 | 0.44 |
| 1919 | 432 | #255 | 0.44 |
| 1918 | 453 | #250 | 0.45 |
| 1917 | 430 | #244 | 0.46 |
| 1916 | 441 | #239 | 0.50 |
| 1915 | 431 | #231 | 0.51 |
| 1914 | 372 | #216 | 0.57 |
| 1913 | 293 | #217 | 0.57 |
| 1912 | 220 | #235 | 0.51 |
| 1911 | 109 | #246 | 0.48 |
| 1910 | 93 | #251 | 0.48 |
| 1909 | 91 | #229 | 0.55 |
| 1908 | 102 | #199 | 0.66 |
| 1907 | 88 | #217 | 0.60 |
| 1906 | 79 | #222 | 0.59 |
| 1905 | 88 | #197 | 0.67 |
| 1904 | 71 | #222 | 0.55 |
| 1903 | 65 | #227 | 0.55 |
| 1902 | 82 | #198 | 0.67 |
| 1901 | 68 | #207 | 0.64 |
| 1900 | 86 | #212 | 0.57 |
| 1899 | 64 | #207 | 0.60 |
| 1898 | 78 | #195 | 0.64 |
| 1897 | 82 | #190 | 0.73 |
| 1896 | 90 | #181 | 0.75 |
| 1895 | 102 | #155 | 0.87 |
| 1894 | 87 | #174 | 0.75 |
| 1893 | 86 | #169 | 0.77 |
| 1892 | 89 | #178 | 0.73 |
| 1891 | 75 | #174 | 0.74 |
| 1890 | 75 | #179 | 0.68 |
| 1889 | 73 | #183 | 0.66 |
| 1888 | 84 | #176 | 0.70 |
| 1887 | 54 | #214 | 0.53 |
| 1886 | 81 | #172 | 0.73 |
| 1885 | 72 | #182 | 0.67 |
| 1884 | 82 | #172 | 0.72 |
| 1883 | 57 | #201 | 0.54 |
| 1882 | 73 | #184 | 0.64 |
| 1881 | 73 | #165 | 0.72 |
| 1880 | 92 | #149 | 0.83 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Reuben a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Reuben has been given almost only to boys: 45 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Reuben: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Reuben, and how old are they?
17,800 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 55% of the 32,190 Americans ever recorded as Reuben. The median Reuben alive today is 38 years old; half are between 19 and 56.
The 2020 Census counted 17,061 people named Reuben (38 women and girls, 17,023 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 17,448 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 719 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 2,790 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 3,330 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 4,030 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,520 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 3,350 |
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 Reuben born?
The states with the most babies named Reuben are California, Texas and Pennsylvania, with 28% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 2,434 | #1,417 | 0.9× |
| Texas | 2,262 | #1,730 | 1.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 1,995 | #385 | 1.1× |
| New York | 1,789 | #907 | 0.7× |
| Ohio | 1,202 | #703 | 0.8× |
| Georgia | 1,050 | #1,508 | 1.2× |
| North Carolina | 876 | #923 | 1.0× |
| Michigan | 866 | #563 | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 849 | #1,250 | 0.6× |
| Minnesota | 826 | #628 | 1.3× |
Where Reuben is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Reuben is most over-represented in North Dakota: since 1910 it was given 2.6 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 boys’ 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 Reuben 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 5 names spelled alike, given to 157,715 babies since 1880, Reuben is the second most given (20% of them). In 2025 it was given to 269 of their 918 babies (29%), again the second 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 Reuben
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 Reuben and names like it
- Compare Reuben and RubenBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sReuben peaked in 1920.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Reuben since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Reuben: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1920The year the most babies were named Reuben.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Reuben alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with RMost given first.