Given name
Rebekah
“enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”
Rebekah is a feminine given name from Hebrew, meaning “enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare.”
Original Hebrewרבקה
Meaning & origin
What it means
Rebekah means “enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
In English use, Rebekah is a variant of Rebecca. Rebecca has been associated with Latin and Hebrew naming traditions.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
From Hebrew רִבְקָה (Riḇqāh, “enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1883. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In English use, Rebekah is a variant of Rebecca. The history of Rebecca gives this family its wider story. Rebecca has a place in biblical naming traditions.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Rebekah appears in Genesis 22:23.
From biblical name research
Rebekah through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 75,915
- 119 boys · 75,796 girls
- Most popular year
- 1996
- 2,222 babies
- 2025
- 302
- #884 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −32%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 302 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 884 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 32.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 2,222 in 1996. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (35). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 66,474 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Rebekah’s family of names
In English usage, Rebekah has a related form in Rebecca. In English usage, Rebekah has a conventional equivalent in the Czech form Rebeka. In English usage, Rebekah has a conventional equivalent in the German form Rebekka.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Rebekah has relatives in 3 languages.
4 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Rebekah
- Rebekah BrooksEnglish journalistborn 1968
- Rebekah StottNew Zealand football playerborn 1993
- Rebekah JohnsonAmerican actressborn 1976
- Rebekah MercerAmerican political donor (1973-)
- Rebekah Del RioAmerican musician (1967–2025)
- Rebekah JonesAmerican data scientist, geographer, and activistborn 1989
- Rebekah KochanAmerican actressborn 1984
- Rebekah DawsonAmerican astrophysicistborn 1950
- Rebekah HarknessAmerican artist, composer, philanthropist, and founder of the Harkness Ballet (1915-1982)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Rebekah, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Rebeckah
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