For many more names, please return to Edgar's Main Page.

Rebecca

***[this is my response to the analysis of my name.  My notes are in purple courier face font.]***

Gender: Feminine. [Okay]
Language: English. [Yes]
Etymology:
Rebecca is the English form of a Hebrew name, Rebekah. Originally it meant “One Who Snares, [I've heard that]” “Fat and Full,[Huh?]” or “Captivating[I'll take that.].”

History:
Until the 17th century, Rebecca was almost exclusively a Jewish name. After the Reformation, however, it became one of many Old Testament names adopted by Protestants. Rebecca was especially popular with the Puritans. It was revived in the late 20th century.[Darn you, Puritans.  you close our liquor stores at 8pm, tar & feather my ancestors AND steal my name?  what, what?]

Pronunciation: ree-BECK-ah.[r*schwa*-BECK-ah, actually]

Diminutives: Beca, Becca, Becki, Beckie, Becky, Bekki, Reba, Reva.[where's Kiki?  And Cookie?  I want those on here.]
Hawaiian: Peke.

Alternates: Rabecca, Rebbecca, Rebbeca, Rebbecka, Rebeca, Rebeccah, Rebeka, Rebekah, Rebeccanne.[that's why people always ask me if my name is spelt with one B and two C's and I look at them oddly.]
Danish: Rebekka.
German: Rebekka.
Hawaiian: Lepeka.
Hebrew (Modern): Rivka.
Norwegian: Rebekka.
Portuguese: Rebeca.
Spanish: Rébecca, Rebeca.
Swedish: Rebecka.

Famous  [how so?] Bearers:
Artists and Authors:
Rebecca Blaine Harding Davis (1831-1910)[who?]
American essayist.
Rebecca Sophia Clarke (1833-1906)[who?]
American writer.

Educators, Scholars, and Social Workers:
Rebecca Gratz (1781-1869)[who?]
American philanthropist.
Dame Rebecca West (1892-1983)[who?]
British journalist.

Fictional Characters:
Becky Sharp [okay.]
From William Thackeray’s Vanity Fair (1847).
Becky Thatcher [of course.]
From Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Rebecca de Winter [she was hauntingly great until the end of the book.]
The dead wife in Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca (1938).

Miscellaneous:
Lady Rebecca (1595-1617)[sell-out]
The name the famous Pocahontas took when she converted to Christianity.
Rebecca Towne Nurse (1621-1692)[you Puritans, at it again!]
Executed in the Salem Witch trials.
Rebecca Lobo (1973-) [went to UConn... where the liquor stores close at 8pm.]
American basketball player.

Political Figures:
Rebecca Ann Felton (1835-1930) [will research to see how this woman was politically active in the 19th century, what with the Puritans and all]
American political activist.

Religious Figures:
Rebekah (Biblical) [She knew What was What!]
Wife to Isaac and mother to Esau and Jacob.

Singers and Entertainers:
Reba McEntire (1955-) [She's a Rebecca?  I just assumed she was named Reba.]
American singer.
Rebecca De Mornay (1961-) [okay.  could be Puritan.]
American actress.


Popularity:
Percentage from the 1990 U.S. Census:
0.430 % named Rebecca [why name your kid a nickname, when you could just name them the full name and give them options?  Why why why?  Who does that?]
0.066 % named Becky
0.025 % named Rebekah
0.024 % named Reba
0.010 % named Reva
0.007 % named Rebeca
0.002 % named Beckie
0.002 % named Rebbeca
0.002 % named Rebecca
0.001 % named Becki
0.001 % named Rebecka
0.001 % named Rivka

Popularity of Rebecca:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1900-1910: 161st most popular.
1910-1920: 168th most popular. [Not so popular when my Grandmother was born]
1920-1930: 176th most popular.
1930-1940: 169th most popular.
1940-1950: 68th most popular.
1950-1960: 29th most popular.
1960-1970: 40th most popular.
1970-1980: 13th most popular. [I was born in the exact median of the decade for which the name is most popular.]
1980-1990: 22nd most popular.
1990-2000: 24th most popular.
1998: 30th most popular.
1999: 38th most popular.
2000: 41st most popular.
2001: 47th most popular.

In France... [It's not a French name.  Why list French statistics?]
1900: 193rd most popular.
1901-1990: N/A
1991: 198th most popular.
2000: 200th most popular.


Popularity of Becky:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1900-1930: N/A
1930-1940: 661st most popular.
1940-1950: 260th most popular.
1950-1960: 151st most popular.
1960-1970: 141st most popular.[*most popular decade... yo people of the 1960's, Becky is a nickname.  Short for Rebecca.]
1970-1980: 195th most popular.
1980-1990: 419th most popular.
1990-2000: N/A