Meaning & Origin
First son of Jacob, by his wife Leah.
Reuben is a boy's and girl's baby name of Hebrew origin, from the Hebrew Re'uven meaning "behold, a son" — the words of exaltation spoken by his mother Leah at his birth. In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob and Leah, and one of the twelve patriarchs of the tribes of Israel.
With nearly 32,000 U.S. births on record, Reuben has been a genuine American name for generations. Its warm, Old Testament gravitas and the charming nickname Rube have kept it in steady use, and it has been rising in the current wave of vintage biblical names.