Rueben

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Rueben: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Rueben: Recorded every year since 1996, its highest recorded position is #339, reached in 2024.

4registrars recorded it
39times a registrar ranked it
29years from first to last
#339highest recorded position
9groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#1458
1997	#1578
1998	#1485
1999	#1664
2000	#2142
2001	#1595
2002	#1128
2003	#912
2004	#970
2005	#891
2006	#722
2007	#731
2008	#634
2009	#617
2010	#609
2011	#732
2012	#654
2013	#546
2014	#475
2015	#557
2016	#732
2017	#501
2018	#596
2019	#493
2020	#627
2021	#465
2022	#540
2023	#389
2024	#427

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

RisingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in every year from 1996 to 2024.

In 2024: #339 among boys in Northern Ireland, #427 among boys in England and Wales, #478 among boys in Scotland.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 1996–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #1458 among boys in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Boys
Highest recorded2023–2024
Highest recorded position: #339 among boys in Northern Ireland, in 2024 (recorded 2023–2024).
Northern Ireland · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #427 among boys in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Boys

Rueben appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, which has ranked it in 29 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 1,341 births with the name.

Rueben across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Rueben's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Boys	#1458 (1996)	#389 (2023)	#427 (2024)	29 of 29	1,341 (1996–2024)	103 (2023)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#448 (2005)	#448 (2005)	#657 (2022)	7 of 18	27 (2005–2022)	6 (2008)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#395 (2023)	#339 (2024)	#339 (2024)	2 of 2	7 (2023–2024)	4 (2024)

Rueben by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Rueben in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	30	4 of 10	8
2000s	269	10 of 10	27
2010s	631	10 of 10	63
2020sbusiest	411	5 of 10	82

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 82 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2016 and 2017, when recorded births rose by 33, from 46 to 79.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Rueben appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #339 in Northern Ireland in 2024.

Rueben's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	male	#427	94	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#389	103	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#540	71	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#465	88	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#627	55	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#493	79	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#596	61	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#501	79	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#732	46	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#557	68	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#475	83	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#546	66	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#654	52	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#732	43	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#609	54	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#617	52	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#634	49	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#731	38	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#722	36	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#891	25	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#970	21	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#912	21	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#1128	14	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#1595	8	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#2142	5	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#1664	7	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#1485	8	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#1578	7	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#1458	8	High	Verified
2024	Northern Ireland	male	#339	4	High	Verified
2023	Northern Ireland	male	#395	3	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	male	#657	4	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	male	#713	3	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	male	#711	3	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	male	#730	3	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	male	#472	6	High	Verified
2006	Republic of Ireland	male	#493	4	High	Verified
2005	Republic of Ireland	male	#448	4	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	male	#478	6	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 4 registrars between 1996 and 2024, ranked in 29 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #339, first reached in 2024.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 103 births, registered in England and Wales in 2023.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2005, and 28 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Rudy · #181, 30y
Rue · #333, 13y
Rufus · #236, 29y
Rugile · #550, 16y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Reid · #339, 30y
Theodora · #340, 30y
Elaina · #337, 33y
Kiana · #337, 29y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Antoine · #339, 30y
Arden · #339, 24y
Callam · #339, 18y
Colt · #339, 25y

Rueben was ranked #339 in Northern Ireland · Boys in 2024. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Rueben and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Rueben without appearing here.

Rueben moved ahead of

Kelly Compare
In 2001 they stood at #1595 and #1467 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2002 that had become #1128 and #3225.
Shannon Compare
In 2001 they stood at #1595 and #1467 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2002 that had become #1128 and #3225.
Graeme Compare
In 2001 they stood at #1595 and #1595 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2002 that had become #1128 and #2636.
Garry Compare
In 2002 they stood at #1128 and #1077 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2003 that had become #912 and #1771.

Moved ahead of Rueben

Erik Compare
In 2010 they stood at #472 and #529 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2011 that had become #730 and #272.
Jackson Compare
In 2010 they stood at #472 and #601 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2011 that had become #730 and #308.
Hunter Compare
In 2010 they stood at #609 and #625 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2011 that had become #732 and #473.
Cooper Compare
In 2003 they stood at #912 and #1248 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2004 that had become #970 and #731.

Moved the opposite way to Rueben

Aaron Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rueben went from #1458 to #427 while Aaron went from #33 to #154.
Adam Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rueben went from #1458 to #427 while Adam went from #16 to #35.
Alan Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rueben went from #1458 to #427 while Alan went from #163 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rueben went from #1458 to #427 while Alex went from #43 to #171.

Moved the same way as Rueben

Albie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rueben went from #1458 to #427 and Albie from #853 to #19.
Alfie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rueben went from #1458 to #427 and Alfie from #119 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rueben went from #1458 to #427 and Alfred from #218 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Rueben went from #1458 to #427 and Archie from #192 to #10.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #339 in Northern Ireland in 2024. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Rueben

Rueben at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Rueben across 3 official records

Rueben by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Rueben appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Rueben

Rueben and the names beside it

Rueben moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Rueben

Moved the opposite way to Rueben

Moved the same way as Rueben

Rueben at a glance

Rueben across 3 official records

Rueben by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Rueben appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Rueben

Rueben and the names beside it

Rueben moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Rueben

Moved the opposite way to Rueben

Moved the same way as Rueben