Rivkah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "to tie," "to bind," or "ensnarer."
Name Census estimates that about 1,153 living Americans carry the first name Rivkah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rivkah today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rivkah births was 2023 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rivkah. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 297,272 Americans
Peak year
2023
45 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,532
Tracked since 1955
Popularity
Rivkah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rivkah 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 295 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rivkah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rivkah 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 Rivkah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rivkahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, California recorded the most babies named Rivkah, while California, New Jersey, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 239 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rivkah
The name Rivkah is a Hebrew name derived from the biblical figure Rebecca, a matriarch in the Old Testament. It is a feminine name that means "to tie," "to bind," or "to captivate." The name is thought to originate from the ancient Semitic root word "r-b-q," which has connections to words related to binding or tying.
The name Rivkah first appears in the Book of Genesis, where Rebecca is introduced as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. She is described as a beautiful and virtuous woman who was chosen by Abraham's servant to be Isaac's wife. The story of Rebecca's courtship and marriage to Isaac is a significant part of the biblical narrative.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rivkah is in the ancient Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament. The name gained popularity among Jewish communities and has been used for centuries by various Jewish communities around the world.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Rivkah. One prominent example is Rivkah bat Meir, a 12th-century Jewish scholar and teacher from France. She was known for her expertise in biblical exegesis and was highly respected in her time.
Another famous Rivkah was Rivkah Glezer, a Russian-born writer and activist who lived from 1880 to 1962. She was actively involved in the labor movement and the struggle for women's rights in pre-revolutionary Russia.
In the 16th century, there was Rivkah Batya, a Jewish scholar and author from Italy. She wrote a notable work on Jewish laws and customs, which was widely circulated during her time.
Rivkah Shudofsky, born in 1890 in Ukraine, was a prominent Zionist activist and one of the founders of the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement. She played a significant role in the promotion of Jewish settlement in Palestine during the early 20th century.
Rivkah Lubitch, who lived from 1770 to 1828, was a renowned Jewish mystic and spiritual leader from Volhynia, Ukraine. She was revered for her wisdom and teachings within the Hasidic Jewish community.
These are just a few examples of notable figures throughout history who bore the name Rivkah, highlighting its deep roots in Jewish culture and tradition.
People
Rivkah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rivkah 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
Rivkah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rivkah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,153 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rivkah 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 297,272 US residents.
Is Rivkah a common name?
We classify Rivkah as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,188 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rivkah most popular?
The single biggest year for Rivkah was 2023, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rivkah is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rivkah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rivkah 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.