Bekah
A feminine diminutive of the Hebrew name Rebecca meaning "to tie firmly".
Name Census estimates that about 204 living Americans carry the first name Bekah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bekah today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bekah births was 2004 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bekah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
204
~ 1 in 1,680,168 Americans
Peak year
2004
13 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2021 SSA rank
#10,415
Tracked since 1976
Popularity
Bekah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bekah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 64 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bekah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bekah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bekah
The name Bekah is a feminine given name derived from the Biblical Hebrew name Rivkah, which means "ensnarer" or "captivating." This name has its origins in ancient Israel and is mentioned in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, where Rivkah is the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau.
The name Rivkah is thought to have evolved from the Hebrew root word "ravak," which means "to tie" or "to ensnare." The name Bekah is a shortened form of Rivkah, likely arising as a nickname or diminutive form of the longer name. This shortening of names was a common practice in ancient Hebrew culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bekah is in the biblical account of Rivkah's life, which is believed to have been written around the 5th century BCE. In this account, Rivkah is described as a beautiful and virtuous woman who played a pivotal role in the continuation of the Abrahamic lineage.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Bekah or its variations. One of the earliest was Bekah bat Avraham, a 12th-century Jewish scholar and poet from Spain. Another was Bekah Polonaise, a 16th-century Jewish woman who was known for her philanthropic efforts in Poland.
In more recent times, the name Bekah has been carried by several notable figures, including Bekah Brunstetter, an American playwright and television writer born in 1983, and Bekah Martinez, an American reality television personality born in 1995, who appeared on the 22nd season of the popular show "The Bachelor."
Other historical figures with the name Bekah include Bekah Shamgar, a 17th-century Sephardic Jewish scholar and kabbalist, and Bekah Fatima, a 19th-century Egyptian feminist and activist who fought for women's rights in the Ottoman Empire.
While the name Bekah has its roots in ancient Hebrew culture, it has been embraced and adapted by various cultures and communities throughout history, reflecting the universality and enduring appeal of this captivating name.
People
Bekah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bekah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bekah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bekah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 204 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bekah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,680,168 US residents.
Is Bekah a common name?
We classify Bekah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 208 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bekah most popular?
The single biggest year for Bekah was 2004, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bekah is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Bekah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bekah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.