# Reuben (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/reuben/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “see [masculine plural imperative]”, “son”, “see”, “all: a son!” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɹu.bən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Rube, Reubs, Reub |
| Variant spellings | Ruben, Rubin, Rube |
| US babies named this | 32,190 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 32,145 / 45 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 26,534, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

* 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.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1918 | 5 | 5,442 |
| 1923 | 6 | 4,873 |
| 1924 | 5 | 5,742 |
| 1926 | 6 | 4,743 |
| 1927 | 5 | 5,473 |
| 1970 | 6 | 7,767 |
| 1981 | 7 | 8,812 |
| 1988 | 5 | 13,369 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 215 | 931 |
| 2012 | 215 | 947 |
| 2013 | 237 | 880 |
| 2014 | 267 | 844 |
| 2015 | 258 | 868 |
| 2016 | 251 | 875 |
| 2017 | 240 | 897 |
| 2018 | 229 | 928 |
| 2019 | 245 | 893 |
| 2020 | 246 | 909 |
| 2021 | 263 | 883 |
| 2022 | 285 | 852 |
| 2023 | 303 | 812 |
| 2024 | 283 | 860 |
| 2025 | 269 | 889 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 941 | 72 |
| 2012 | 1,014 | 68 |
| 2013 | 1,144 | 54 |
| 2014 | 1,166 | 51 |
| 2015 | 1,188 | 51 |
| 2016 | 1,322 | 48 |
| 2017 | 1,309 | 49 |
| 2018 | 1,504 | 42 |
| 2019 | 1,424 | 44 |
| 2020 | 1,339 | 44 |
| 2021 | 1,534 | 36 |
| 2022 | 1,475 | 36 |
| 2023 | 1,356 | 37 |
| 2024 | 1,442 | 33 |
| 2025 | 1,412 | 29 |

## In other languages

- Armenian: Ռուբեն
- Bulgarian: Рувим
- Catalan: Rubèn
- Danish: Ruben
- Dutch: Ruben
- Estonian: Ruuben
- French: Ruben
- German: Ruben
- Hebrew: רְאוּבֵן
- Hindi: रूबेन
- Hungarian: Ruben, Rúben
- Norwegian: Ruben
- Portuguese: Rubens
- Russian: Руви́м
- Spanish: Rubén
- Swedish: Ruben

## People named Reuben

- Reuben Fine, American chess player and psychologist (1914–1993)
- Reuben Goodstein, British mathematician (1912-1985)
- Reuben Chapman, American politician (1799–1882)
- Reuben Hersh, American mathematician (1927–2020)
- Reuben Fenton, American politician (1819-1885)
- Reuben Wood, American judge (1792-1864)
- Reuben Ross, Canadian diver
- Reuben Agboola, footballer
- Reuben Langdon, former American stuntman and voice actor
- Reuben Rogers, American musician
- Reuben Noble-Lazarus, British footballer (born 1993)
- Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist (1883–1970)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.