Rebecca or Rebekah ( Hebrew: רִבְקָה (''Rivkah'')) is a feminine given name originating from the Hebrew language. 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 captivating beauty, or "to tie", "to bind".

W. F. Albright William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars." ...

held that it meant "soil, earth". The matriarch

Rebecca Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...

was the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau in the Bible.

Spelling

The Latin Vulgate uses the spelling Rebecca exclusively and it is followed by (''ex. gr.'')

Wycliffe Wycliffe (and other similar spellings) may refer to: People *John Wycliffe (and other spellings) (c.1320s – 1384), English theologian and Bible translator * Wycliffe (name), includes a list of other people with the name Places * Wycliffe, Count ...

and the Bishops' Bible. In the Authorized Version of the 1600s, the spelling Rebekah is used in the Old Testament (

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

) 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. 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 Puritans 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.

Variations

*Lepeka ( Hawaiian) *Becca (English) *Becka (English) *Beckah (English) *Becki (English) *Beckie (English) *Becky (English) *Becbec ( Filipino) *Bekah (English) *Fiqa ( Malaysian) *Rabqa ( Arabic) *Rafiqa (Arabic) *Rafqa ( Aramaic) *Rebeca ( Galician, Portuguese, Spanish,

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

) *Rébecca, Rebeque (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

) *Rebeccah (English) *Rebecka (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

) *Rebeckah (English) *Rebeka (

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

, Czech, Hungarian,

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

Slovenian Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Sloven ...

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

) *Rebekah ( Hebrew) *Rebekka (

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

, Finnish,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, Icelandic, Norwegian, Russian,

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

) *Rebekkah ( English) *Rebieka (

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

) *Refika (

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

) *Repega ( Armenian) *Reveica (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

) *Revka, Revkah (Hebrew) *Ribka, Ribkah, Ribkha, (

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

) *Rifka, Rifke (

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

) *Ríobhca ( Irish) *Rivka, Rivqah (Hebrew) (The original Biblical form of which all the others are ultimately derived) *Rybika (Arabic) * رفقة، ريبيكا (Arabic) * রেবেকা (Rēbēkā) (Bengali) * 丽贝卡 (Lì bèi kǎ) (Chinese Simplified) * 麗貝卡 (Lì bèi kǎ) (Chinese Traditional) * რებეკა (Rebeka) (Georgian) * Ρεβέκκα (Revecca or Revekka) ( Greek) * રેબેકા (Rēbēkā) (Gujarati) * רבקה (Hebrew) * रेबेका (Rēbēkā) (Hindi) * レベッカ (Rebekka) 理香 (Rika) ( Japanese) * ರೆಬೆಕ್ಕಾ (Rebekkā) ( Kannada) * 레베카 (Lebeka) (Korean) * Ребекка (Ryebyekka) (Mongolian) * रेबेका (Rēbēkā) (Nepali) * ربکا (Persian) * ரெபேக்கா (Repēkkā) (Tamil) * റെബേക്ക (Rebekka) (Malayalam) * రెబెక్కా (Rebekkā) (Telugu) * รีเบคก้า (Rī bekhk̂ā) (Thai) * ربیکہ (Urdu) * ርብቃ ( Tigrinya)

References

{{Reflist English feminine given names English given names Feminine given names Hebrew feminine given names Jewish feminine given names