Reuven
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "behold, a son".
Name Census estimates that about 1,012 living Americans carry the first name Reuven. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Reuven today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Reuven births was 2024 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Reuven. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Reuven with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 338,690 Americans
Peak year
2024
59 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,383
Tracked since 1959
Census
Reuven in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 995 people with the first name Reuven, which placed it at #12,481 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,481
National first-name rank
People counted
995
995 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
91.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Reuven
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reuven is White at 91.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Reuven described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Reuven at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.0% · 905
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 21
- Two or more races1.8% · 18
- Black or African American1.4% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Popularity
Reuven: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Reuven from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 276 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Reuven 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 Reuven during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Reuvens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, California recorded the most babies named Reuven, while California, New Jersey, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 210 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Reuven
The given name Reuven is a Hebrew name derived from the Biblical Hebrew word "ra'ah," which means "to see" or "to perceive." It is a variant spelling of the name Reuben, one of the twelve sons of Jacob in the Hebrew Bible.
The name Reuven first appears in the book of Genesis, where Reuben is described as the firstborn son of Jacob and Leah. According to the biblical narrative, Reuben's birth is accompanied by Leah's words: "Because the Lord has seen my misery, surely my husband will love me now" (Genesis 29:32). This reference to "seeing" and "being seen" is thought to be the origin of the name Reuven.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Reuven can be found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, which date back to the 3rd century BCE. The name was also used among Jewish communities throughout the ancient world, as evidenced by its appearance in historical records and inscriptions.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Reuven. One of the most famous was Reuven Avinoam (1919-2004), an Israeli politician and former member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament). Another was Reuven Feuerstein (1921-2014), an Israeli psychologist and scholar known for his work in cognitive modifiability and his development of the Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment program.
In the realm of religion, Reuven Margolies (1899-1971) was a prominent Orthodox rabbi and head of the Novardok Yeshiva in Israel. Reuven Rivlin (1939-present) is another notable figure, having served as the 10th President of Israel from 2014 to 2022.
Additionally, Reuven Ramaty (1937-2001) was an Israeli-American astrophysicist and pioneer in the field of gamma-ray astronomy, making significant contributions to our understanding of the universe.
While the name Reuven has its roots in the Hebrew Bible, it has been embraced by Jewish communities around the world and has transcended its religious origins to become a popular name in various cultures and societies.
People
Reuven + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Reuven as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Reuven: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Reuven?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,012 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Reuven 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 338,690 US residents.
Is Reuven a common name?
We classify Reuven as "Rare". It ranks above 90.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,033 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Reuven most popular?
The single biggest year for Reuven was 2024, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Reuven is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Reuven in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 995 people with the name Reuven, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,481 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Reuven in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Reuven?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Reuven appears almost entirely male. Of the 996 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Reuven?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reuven is White at 91.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Reuven most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Reuven in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.0% (905 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Reuven in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Reuven a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Reuven in the SSA data are male. 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.
Is Reuven still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Reuven in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Reuven can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are named Reuven?
Find out how many Americans are named Reuven on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.