Find out how popular the last name Ruben is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Ruben.

Ruben, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Ruben surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ruben in America

Ruben is the 11026th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ruben surname appeared 2,884 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Ruben.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ruben to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Ruben

The surname Ruben has its origins in the Hebrew given name Reuben, which is derived from the Hebrew phrase "re'u ven" meaning "behold a son". The name can be traced back to ancient Israel, where it was borne by one of the twelve sons of the biblical patriarch Jacob.

In the Middle Ages, the name Ruben began to be adopted as a surname among Jewish communities in various parts of Europe. One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in the Memorbuch, a 14th-century Jewish memorial book from Nuremberg, Germany, which mentions a certain Ruben ben Abraham.

As Jewish communities migrated and settled in different regions, the surname Ruben took on various spellings and pronunciations. In Spanish-speaking countries, it often appeared as Rubén, while in Eastern Europe it was more commonly spelled as Rubin or Rubinstein.

Notable individuals with the surname Ruben include the Spanish painter Juan Ruben (1558-1625), who was renowned for his religious paintings and worked extensively in Seville. In the field of music, there was the Russian-American composer Viktor Rubin (1923-1996), who composed several symphonies and concertos.

Another prominent figure was the German-American philosopher Isaak Iselin Ruben (1786-1855), who played a significant role in the early days of the American Philosophical Society. In the realm of literature, the German author and playwright Margrete Ruben (1889-1980) was known for her plays and novels exploring themes of gender and identity.

The British mathematician Walter Ruben (1899-1982) made valuable contributions to the fields of mathematical analysis and number theory. He held academic positions at various institutions, including the University of Virginia and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

While these are just a few examples, the surname Ruben has been carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions throughout history, reflecting its enduring legacy as a Jewish surname with ancient roots.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ruben

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Ruben.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Ruben was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Ruben has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Ruben was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Ruben, please contact us.

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