Rifka
A feminine name of Semitic origin meaning "fawn" or "bringer of joy".
Name Census estimates that about 689 living Americans carry the first name Rifka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rifka today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rifka births was 2001 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rifka. 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 Rifka with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
689
~ 1 in 497,466 Americans
Peak year
2001
20 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,300
Tracked since 1952
Census
Rifka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 607 people with the first name Rifka, which placed it at #17,928 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
#17,928
National first-name rank
People counted
607
607 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
94.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rifka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rifka is White at 94.6%. The next largest groups are Black (2.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%). 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 Rifka 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 Rifka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.6% · 574
- Black or African American2.0% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 8
- Two or more races0.2% · 1
Popularity
Rifka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rifka from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 136 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rifka remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rifka 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 Rifka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rifkas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rifka
The name Rifka is derived from the Hebrew name Rivka, which means "to tie" or "to bind." It is a feminine name that has been in use for centuries, with its origins tracing back to the biblical matriarch Rebecca, the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau.
In the book of Genesis, Rebecca is described as a beautiful and virtuous woman who played a pivotal role in the story of the Israelites. Her name is mentioned numerous times throughout the Hebrew Bible, cementing its significance in Jewish tradition.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Rifka appears in various ancient Hebrew texts and scriptures, primarily in reference to the biblical figure. Over time, the name's spelling and pronunciation evolved, leading to variations like Rivka, Rifka, and Rebekah in different languages and cultures.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Rifka. One of the earliest was Rifka Wolfe (c. 1542-1597), a Jewish woman from Prague who was accused of participating in the ritual murder of a Christian child, a blood libel that led to her execution.
Rifka Milkin (1825-1878) was a prominent Russian Jewish educator and writer who advocated for girls' education and established several schools in Russia and Poland. She played a significant role in promoting secular education among Jewish communities.
In the 20th century, Rifka Haas (1920-1999) was a Polish-born Holocaust survivor and author. Her memoir, "The Endless Steppe," recounts her experiences as a child during World War II, when she and her family were deported to Siberia by the Soviet authorities.
Rifka Loring-Bailey (1922-2014) was a British-born artist and illustrator known for her vibrant and colorful paintings. She was also a longtime educator and taught at various art schools throughout her career.
Rifka Simons (1923-2019) was a Dutch-born Holocaust survivor and writer. She wrote several books about her experiences during the Holocaust, including "Memories of Auschwitz" and "A Chance for Life," providing firsthand accounts of the atrocities she witnessed.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Rifka, each with their own unique stories and contributions to their respective fields or communities.
People
Rifka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rifka 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
Rifka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rifka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 689 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rifka 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 497,466 US residents.
Is Rifka a common name?
We classify Rifka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 728 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rifka most popular?
The single biggest year for Rifka was 2001, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rifka is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rifka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 607 people with the name Rifka, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,928 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 Rifka 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 Rifka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rifka appears almost entirely female. Of the 605 people counted with this name, 99.3% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Rifka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rifka is White at 94.6%. The next largest groups are Black (2.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%). 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 Rifka most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rifka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.6% (574 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 Rifka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rifka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rifka 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.
Is Rifka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rifka 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 Rifka 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 Americans are named Rifka?
See how many Americans are named Rifka on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.