DutchHebrew2 syllables
Meaning: see, a son.
Ruben
Ruben is the Dutch spelling of Reuben, the eldest of Jacob's twelve sons. The Hebrew Bible explains the name, and then explains it a second time, differently.
| Origin | Dutch, Scandinavian and Iberian spelling of Reuben, from Hebrew Re'uven |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Usually read as re'u ben, see, a son; the verse that names him offers a different play on the sound |
| Pronunciation | RUE-buhn — the Dutch u is the tight rounded vowel of French tu rather than an English oo, and in everyday speech the final n drops off, leaving RUE-buh |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100; steady in the Netherlands, Belgium and Scandinavia, and widespread in Spanish as Rubén |
| Variants | Reuben, Rubén, Rúben, Reuven, Rubens |
| Nicknames | Ru, Rubi |
| Bible | Reuben was the firstborn of Jacob and Leah and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel |
History & meaning
Genesis 29 has Leah name her first son and say that the Lord has looked on her affliction, ra'ah be-onyi, which chimes with the name without translating it. The plain reading of the consonants gives something else, re'u ben, see, a son. Both are the kind of explanation biblical narrative loves, a pun that carries meaning rather than a derivation, and the original sense of the name is not recoverable behind them. The man himself has a difficult story. Reuben is the eldest and loses everything: he sleeps with his father's concubine, and on his deathbed Jacob calls him unstable as water and gives the birthright away. His tribe settled east of the Jordan and faded early, and the Song of Deborah pauses to reproach it for staying home among the sheepfolds while the others fought.
The spelling is the Dutch part. Dutch and German write Ruben where English keeps the older Reuben, Spanish stresses the second syllable and marks it, Rubén, and Portuguese writes Rúben. One thing the name is not is the painter. Peter Paul Rubens carried it as a family name, and Dutch and Flemish surnames ending in -s are very often frozen possessives meaning son of, which is where Peeters, Hendriks, Willems and a thousand others come from. The given name behind the painter was Peter Paul.
Why parents choose it
It is biblical without being overused, and it crosses more borders unaltered than almost any other name in this set: Dutch, Flemish, Norwegian, Spanish, Portuguese and Jewish naming all accept it as written. English speakers will say ROO-ben, which is close enough that nobody has to be corrected twice.
Middle names for Ruben
Two syllables ending soft, so the middle name can afford to be biblical and full: Ruben Elias, Ruben Amos, Ruben Tobias, Ruben Willem. The middle names guide has more.
Famous Rubens
Ruben Östlund is one of a small handful of directors to have won the Palme d'Or twice, for The Square in 2017 and Triangle of Sadness in 2022. Rubén Blades wrote some of the most literate songs in salsa, took a law degree at Harvard, ran for the presidency of Panama and later served as its minister of tourism. Ruben Nicolai has been a fixture of Dutch comedy and television panel shows for two decades.
Consider instead
Reuben is the same name in its English dress. Levi is another of Jacob's sons and far commoner in America. Simon keeps the Hebrew lineage and the easy two syllables without the spelling questions.