Every Boy Name

Boy's name

Reuben

Say it ROO-bin 2 syllables

Hebrew · “see, a son”

Common across the UK, Queensland, and New South Wales. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 18 more places.

1 in 193 boys born in England and Wales in 2025. Number 29 there.

Reuben in every place

Rank, count and share in all 40 places: loved in 0, common in 5, rare in 21.
Reuben in every place we hold figures for
Place Rankyear Boysshare 5 years earlier
British Isles
England and Wales29 (up)20251,4121 in 193442020
Scotland37 (up)20251071 in 184552020
Northern Ireland29 (up)2025571 in 145462020
Ireland156 (down)2025331 in 7191422020
North America
Ontario (province)503 (up)202424about 1 in 2,4951,0112019
Quebec (province)Rare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
British Columbia (province)354 (down)20239about 1 in 1,4462822018
Nova Scotia (province)Not in the published top 212025Not listed2020
Oceania
New South Wales (state)85 (new in the list)202599Not listed2020
Victoria (state)Not in the published top 1012025Not listed2020
Queensland (state)67 (new in the list)202582Not listed2020
South Australia (state)Not in the published top 1002025Not listed2020
New ZealandNot in the published top 1002025Not listed2020
Western Europe
FranceRare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
NetherlandsRare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
Central Europe
AustriaRare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
SwitzerlandRare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
Berlin (city)Rare: below the complete list2023Not listed2018
Munich (city)Rare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
Cologne (city)Rare: below the complete list2023Not listed2018
Bonn (city)Rare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
Leipzig (city)Rare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
Rostock (city)Rare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
Nordic countries
NorwayRare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
SwedenRare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
DenmarkNot in the published top 502025Not listed2020
FinlandNot in the published top 502025No list2020
IcelandNot in the published top 102025No list2020
Southern Europe
SpainNot in the published top 1002024Not listed2019
Catalonia (region)Rare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
Italy4,915 (new in the list)202411 in 189,358Not listed2019
Central and Eastern Europe
PolandRare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
HungaryNot in the published top 1002025Not listed2020
SloveniaRare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
EstoniaNot in the published top 272025Not listed2020
Moscow (city)Not in the published top 612025Not listed2020
CroatiaNot in the published top 502025No list2020
Middle East
TurkeyNot in the published top 302025Not listed2020
IsraelRare: below the complete list2024Not listed2019
Latin America
ArgentinaNot in the published top 202024Not listed2019

Germany publishes no national list; the German rows are city registers. About: the publisher leaves out its smallest names, so the share is approximate. ▲ and ▼ compare the rank with five years earlier. Not listed five years earlier: not in that year’s list. No list: the place published no list that year. How these figures are computed.

About the name

In the Bible, Reuben is the eldest son of Jacob. It comes from the Hebrew r'uvén, made of r'ú, 'see', and ben, 'son', so its literal meaning is roughly 'See, all: a son'.

2 more paragraphs

It has two syllables, ROO-bin, and a warm, rounded sound. Related names include Ruben, Rubin, Reuven, Rouben and Ruwen, with Rube as an old short form.

Reuben is a British favourite, popular in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. It is very rare elsewhere. Canadian records show a long history, going back to the start of the records, with a peak in the late 2010s. Its trend is slightly upward.

Meaning, origin and how to say it

Say it
ROO-bin · 2 syllables · Stress on beat 1 of 2.
Meaning
“see, a son”
Origin
Hebrew
Related names
Ruben, Rubin, Rube, Ruwen, Rouben, Reuven, Ruuben, Rubens
Where Reuben comes from (Wiktionary)

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".

Shortened from the Wiktionary entry for Reuben. Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Reuben over time

Rising in 2 of the 6 regions we can compare over five years, falling in 1. Peak in Ontario and British Columbia: 2018.

Rank in England and Wales, 1996 to 2025

Reuben in England and Wales: #200 in 1996, rising to a peak of #29 in 2025.

#1#10#50#100#300200020052010201520202025Top 101996: #200, 160 boys1997: #180, 181 boys1998: #159, 213 boys1999: #175, 194 boys2000: #151, 242 boys2001: #152, 253 boys2002: #154, 259 boys2003: #122, 396 boys2004: #118, 475 boys2005: #102, 567 boys2006: #97, 680 boys2007: #88, 791 boys2008: #87, 768 boys2009: #79, 854 boys2010: #71, 931 boys2011: #72, 941 boys2012: #68, 1,014 boys2013: #54, 1,144 boys2014: #51, 1,166 boys2015: #51, 1,188 boys2016: #48, 1,322 boys2017: #49, 1,309 boys2018: #42, 1,504 boys2019: #44, 1,424 boys2020: #44, 1,339 boys2021: #36, 1,534 boys2022: #36, 1,475 boys2023: #37, 1,356 boys2024: #33, 1,442 boys2025: #29, 1,412 boys#200 in 1996#29in 2025
Show the numbers
YearRankBoys
1996200160
1997180181
1998159213
1999175194
2000151242
2001152253
2002154259
2003122396
2004118475
2005102567
200697680
200788791
200887768
200979854
201071931
201172941
2012681,014
2013541,144
2014511,166
2015511,188
2016481,322
2017491,309
2018421,504
2019441,424
2020441,339
2021361,534
2022361,475
2023371,356
2024331,442
2025291,412

Source: Office for National Statistics (OGL v3)

The long view: in Ontario and British Columbia

Half of the boys named Reuben in Ontario and British Columbia since 1925 were born in or after 2002. Peak: 2018, about 52 per 100,000 boys. Babies per 100,000 boys, five-year periods.

1925-1929: 15.7 per 100,000 boys1930-1934: 9.5 per 100,000 boys1935-1939: 3.4 per 100,000 boys1940-1944: 0 per 100,000 boys19401945-1949: 0 per 100,000 boys1950-1954: 0 per 100,000 boys1955-1959: 0 per 100,000 boys1960-1964: 0 per 100,000 boys19601965-1969: 1.5 per 100,000 boys1970-1974: 10.9 per 100,000 boys1975-1979: 16.6 per 100,000 boys1980-1984: 24 per 100,000 boys19801985-1989: 18.5 per 100,000 boys1990-1994: 19.5 per 100,000 boys1995-1999: 23.1 per 100,000 boys2000-2004: 36.4 per 100,000 boys20002005-2009: 28.7 per 100,000 boys2010-2014: 32 per 100,000 boys2015-2019: 41.7 per 100,000 boys2020-2024: 41.3 per 100,000 boys20202015-2019: about 1 in 2,399 boys
Show the numbers
YearsPer 100,000 boys
1925–192915.7
1930–19349.5
1935–19393.4
1940–19440
1945–19490
1950–19540
1955–19590
1960–19640
1965–19691.5
1970–197410.9
1975–197916.6
1980–198424
1985–198918.5
1990–199419.5
1995–199923.1
2000–200436.4
2005–200928.7
2010–201432
2015–201941.7
2020–202441.3

Source: Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (OGL-Ontario); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (OGL-BC). Dark bar: the period holding the median birth year.

Brothers and middle names for Reuben

Brother names

Names that rose and fell with Reuben, from the same generation, with no clashing sounds.

  1. 1 in 453, England and Wales

  2. 1 in 82, Northern Ireland

  3. 1 in 307, Northern Ireland

  4. 1 in 467, England and Wales

  5. 1 in 196, Scotland

  6. 1 in 101, Scotland

  7. 1 in 139, Ireland

  8. 1 in 112, Ireland

  9. 1 in 269, Scotland

  10. 1 in 65, Scotland

All 40 brother names for Reuben

Middle names

Scored for rhythm against Reuben's 2 syllables and for long, steady use.

  1. 1 in 86, England and Wales

  2. 1 in 50, Ireland

  3. 1 in 61, Northern Ireland

  4. 1 in 103, England and Wales

  5. 1 in 130, Scotland

  6. 1 in 62, Poland

  7. 1 in 88, England and Wales

  8. 1 in 137, Scotland

Full-name check

Reuben Oliver

Syllables 2-3Initials R.O.No sound clashes between the parts.

All 40 middle names for Reuben

Sisters for Reuben: Delilah, Lilah, Cora, and 5 more
  1. DelilahRose and fell with Reuben · As common as Reuben
  2. LilahRose and fell with Reuben · Hebrew, like Reuben
  3. CoraRose and fell with Reuben · Same generation as Reuben
  4. MaggieRose and fell with Reuben · Same generation as Reuben
  5. PaigeRose and fell with Reuben · Same generation as Reuben
  6. BrookeRose and fell with Reuben · Same generation as Reuben
  7. SummerRose and fell with Reuben · As common as Reuben
  8. GracieRose and fell with Reuben · As common as Reuben

Girls' names from the same engine, over the girls' lists of the same publishers.

Moved with Reuben

The boy names whose popularity rose and fell most like Reuben's across every region and decade we hold.

  1. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 16 more places.

  2. Rare in France, England and Wales, Italy, and 20 more places.

  3. Rare in all 24 places we hold figures for.

  4. Rare in all 24 places we hold figures for.

  5. Rare in France, England and Wales, Italy, and 18 more places.

  6. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 17 more places.

  7. Rare in all 24 places we hold figures for.

  8. Rare in France, England and Wales, Italy, and 20 more places.

Famous people named Reuben

Reuben Fine, Reuben Gabriel, and 2 more

From Wikidata, ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article on them. People: Wikidata (CC0). Links go to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists, else English.

Questions about Reuben

How popular is Reuben in England and Wales?

Reuben ranked #29 in England and Wales in 2025, given to 1,412 boys, about 1 in 193.

Is Reuben rising in popularity?

In some places: it is rising in more of them than it is falling. Rising in 2 of the 6 regions we can compare over five years, falling in 1. Rising in: Ontario and Scotland.

What does Reuben mean?

Reuben means “see, a son”, according to Wiktionary.

How many syllables does Reuben have?

Reuben has 2 syllables: ROO-bin.

Every rank and count on this page comes from an official birth register. How these figures are computed.

Meanings, origins and people: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikidata (CC0).

The 42 birth registers behind these figures

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Kept names collect here.

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