Rebecca (given name)

Look up Rebekah in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Rebecca or Rebekah is a feminine given name originating from the Hebrew רִבְקָה (Rivkah). The name comes from the verb רבק (rbq), meaning "to tie firmly"; Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names and the NOBS Study Bible Name List suggest the name means "snare", "noose", "tied up", "secured", and even "beautifully ensnaring".^[1] W.F. Albright held that it meant "star".^[2]

The name's most famous bearer was the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau in the Hebrew Bible.

Spelling

The Latin Vulgate uses the spelling Rebecca exclusively^[3] and is followed by (ex. gr.) Wycliffe and even the Bishops' Bible. In the Authorized Version of the 1600s the spelling Rebekah is used in the Old Testament (Genesis) and the Latin "Rebecca" (representing Greek Bible Ῥεβέκκα) was retained in the New Testament (see Romans 9:10). So the earlier western spelling is “Rebecca,” but both spellings (Rebecca and Rebekah) are used in the influential King James Version and both are current in the English-speaking world today.

Popularity

In the United Kingdom, it made its way into the top 100 female names during the 1960s, the top 20 during the 1970s, and the top 10 during the 1980s, and finally peaked as the 3rd most popular female name in 1995. However, it slid out of the top 10 in 2000 and by 2009 had fallen to 77th.In 2013 it is now 120th

In America, the name has been used since the arrival of the Puritans back in the 17th century. In the United States, the name Rebecca goes up and down in the popularity rankings, but has consistently ranked in the top 200 most popular names for girls since at least 1880 (the first year for which the Social Security Administration has documented name baby popularity). In the year 2011, the Social Security Administration ranked Rebecca at 148th in popularity.^[4][5]

Variants

• LePeka (Hawaiian)
• Becca (English)
• Bekky (English)
• Becci (English)
• Becka (English)
• Beckah (English)
• Beckaford (English)
• Becki (English)
• Beckie (English)
• Beckii (English)
• Becks (English)
• Beck (English)
• Becky (English)
• Bec (English)
• Becs (English)
• Bek (English)
• Bekki (English)
• Bex (English)
• Bexy (English)
• Beccie (English)
• Rabqa (Arabic)
• Rafqa (Arabic)
• Reb (American)
• Rea (American)
• Réba (Magyar)
• Rebeca (Spanish, Portuguese, Galician, Welsh, Romanian)
• Rébecca, Rebeque (French)
• Rebeccah (English)
• Rebeccanne (English)
• Rebeccanne (English)
• Rebecca (English)
• Rebecka (English, Swedish)
• Rebeckah (English)
• Rebeka (Czech, Hungarian, Polish)
• Rebekah (Hebrew)
• Rebekka (Danish, German, Icelandic, Norwegian, Finnish
• Ρεβέκκα (Revecca or Revekka) (Greek)
• Rebekke, Rebbi (German)
• Reveica (Romanian)
• Revekka (Russian)
• Revka (Hebrew)
• Revkah (Hebrew)
• Revy (English)
• Ribka (Bahasa Indonesia)
• Rifka, Rheba, Riva, Rivah, Rivalee, Rivi, Rivy (Yiddish)
• Rifke (Yiddish)
• Ryfka (Polish)
• Riva (Hebrew)
• Rive (Hebrew)
• Rivka, Rivqah (Hebrew)
• ريبيكا (Arabic)
• Рэбека (Rebieka) (Belarusian)
• রেবেকা (Rēbēkā) (Bengali)
• Reveka (Bulgarian)
• 丽贝卡 (Lì bèi kǎ) (Chinese Simplified)
• 麗貝卡 (Lì bèi kǎ) (Chinese Traditional)
• რებეკა (Rebeka) (Georgian)
• Ρεβέκκα (Revékka) (Greek)
• રેબેકા (Rēbēkā) (Gujarati)
• רבקה (Hebrew)
• रेबेका (Rēbēkā) (Hindi)
• レベッカ (Rebekka) (Japanese)
• ರೆಬೆಕ್ಕಾ (Rebekkā) (Kannada)
• 레베카 (Lebeka) (Korean)
• Ребека (Rebeka) (Macedonian)
• Ребекка (Ryebyekka) (Mongolian)
• रेबेका (Rēbēkā) (Nepali)
• ربکا (Persian)
• Ребекка (Rebekka) (Russian)
• Ребека (Rebeka) (Serbian)
• ரெபேக்கா (Repēkkā) (Tamil)
• రెబెక్కా (Rebekkā) (Telugu)
• รีเบคก้า (Rī bekhk̂ā) (Thai)
• Ребекка (Rebekka) (Ukrainian)
• ربیکا (Urdu)

Notes