Rebecca or Rebekah (Hebrew language: רִבְקָה Rīvqa) is a feminine given name of Hebrew language origin. It is the name of the Hebrew Bible figure Rebecca, wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau. The name comes from the Semitic root ר-ב-ק ( r-b-q), meaning "to tie firmly"; Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names and the NOBS Study Bible Name List suggest the name means captivating beauty, or "to tie", "to bind".
Spelling
The Latin
Vulgate uses the spelling
Rebecca exclusively
and it is followed by (
ex. gr.)
Wycliffe Bible and 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
Latin alphabet spelling is "Rebecca", but both spellings (Rebecca and Rebekah) are used in the influential King James Version. Both are current in the English-speaking world now.
Popularity
In the
United Kingdom, a revival of Biblical names led to this name being ranked among the top 100 female names during the 1960s, the top 20 during the 1970s, and the top 10 during the 1980s; in 1994 it was the most popular female name. A decline in popularity followed; it slid out of the top 10 in 2000 and by 2009 had fallen to 77th. In 2013, it was ranked 120th.
In the United States, the name was used beginning with the colonization of the in New England in the 17th century. 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 baby name popularity). In the year 2011, the Social Security Administration ranked Rebecca at 148th in popularity. In 2013, it was ranked 178th.
The name is also popular in other countries. In 2009, Rebeca was the 27th most popular name for baby girls in Romania.
Mononymous persons
Below are notable persons known only by the given name Rebecca.
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Rebecca (biblical figure), wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau
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Rebecca, from Acts of Xanthippe, Polyxena, and Rebecca
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Rebecca (Rafqa), Lebanese Maronite nun
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Rebekah (DJ), producer of industrial techno
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Rebeca Pous Del Toro (born 1978), known professionally as Rebeca, Spanish singer
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Rebekah Johnson (born 1976), also known as Rebekah, American singer-songwriter
Variations
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Lepeka (Hawaiian)
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Bec
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Becca (English)
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Becka (English)
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Beckah (English)
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Becki (English)
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Beckie (English)
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Becky (English)
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Becbec (Filipino)
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Beka (English)
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Bekah (English)
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Fiqa (Malaysian)
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Rabqa (Arabic language)
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Rafiqa (Arabic)
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Rafqa (Syriac language)
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Rebeca (Galician, Portuguese, Spanish language, Welsh language)
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Rébecca, Rebeque (French language)
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Rebeccah (English)
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Rebecka (Swedish language)
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Rebeckah (English)
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Rebeka (Albanian, Bulgarian, Czech language, Hungarian, Polish language, Serbian language, Slovene language, Turkish language, Yoruba language)
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Rebekah (Hebrew language, English)
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Rebekka (Danish language, Finnish language, German language, Icelandic, Norwegian, Russian language, Ukrainian)
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Rebekkah (English language)
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Rebieka (Belarusian)
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Refika (Turkish language)
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Repega (Armenian)
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Rebeca (Romanian)
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Revka, Revkah (Hebrew)
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Ribka, Ribkah, Ribkha, Rebecca (Indonesian)
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Rifka, Rifke (Yiddish language)
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Ríobhca (Irish language)
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Rivka, Rivqah (Hebrew) (The original Biblical form of which all the others are ultimately derived)
