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 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 o ...
) 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
Malaysian may refer to:
* Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia
* Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia
* Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regar ...
)
*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 peopl ...
)
*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,
Czech,
Hungarian,
Polish,
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,
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 consti ...
)
*Rebekah (
Hebrew)
*Rebekka (
Danish,
Finnish,
German,
Icelandic,
Norwegian,
Russian,
Ukrainian)
*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)
*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
** Indonesia ...
)
*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