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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Reuben popularity

33 replies

Linny88 · 06/05/2019 22:55

I’ve always loved the name Reuben and my husband is Jewish so we feel it’s a good name for us. However, I’ve seen lots of comments on here that it’s very popular. We live in London and I work with under 5s and have only heard of one child called Reuben (I’ve been working in London with kids for the past 8 years). I’m really interested to know how popular it is where you live and most importantly what area of the country it is. It’s only 49 on the popularity rankings so I’m wondering why I keep hearing that it’s popular. My friend in Manchester says she feels it’s more common in the north west

The other name we love is Idris as my mother’s welsh....also interested to know if people prefer that to Reuben

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Orangecake123 · 08/05/2019 18:45

This is the name I want to pick for my son- but I'm not even pregnant or in a relationship yet!

Go with what you want OP, nevermind if it's popular or not.

MakeLemonade · 08/05/2019 18:11

I know four little Reubens 3 months to 3yrs, London/Surrey area. Lovely name but I think it’s fairly popular around here at least.

Sparklysunflower · 08/05/2019 11:42

I can’t really understand the trend of wanting to demonstrate how different you are via your child -

Wow, that's quite an assumption! Lots of adults choose less popular names for their kids because they hated having a trendy 1970s name that they not only had to share with several others but that now sounds dated (eg Clare, Sharon, Tracy, Steve etc etc).

We chose classic but unpopular names for our children. We love them. But in no way are we trying to demonstrate anything, let alone how different we are Hmm.

There are SO many lovely interesting names to choose from!

Original poster
Linny88 · 08/05/2019 10:54

Hi, I don’t need the name to be unique, but I have a name that was in the top 30 when I was born that then became very popular and has remained in the top 10- 15 for the past 25 years....so I just don’t want to choose a name where there will be 5 of them in one class. I remember most boys in my year at school being called Matthew, Andrew or Daniel....I’m wondering if Noah, Jacob and Reuben will be the new ones of those!

OP posts:
Bumblebeesmum · 08/05/2019 09:27

If you look at name stats the current trend is for parents to try & be as unique as possible. In previous generations the top 10 names would be the majority of the classroom whereas now there are thousands more names registered a year & even the top 5 are a fraction of the number they used to be.

I can’t really understand the trend of wanting to demonstrate how different you are via your child - but I’m about as unfashionable as it gets (& autistic) so trends in general prob aren’t for me !

Anyway so no Reuben is not popular at all. Might you meet another in your lifetime then yes - but my husband has taught in 15 schools & come across 2.

Sparklysunflower · 08/05/2019 08:16

But you never ever get to use your middle name..

HepzibahGreen · 08/05/2019 08:11

Well Reuben Idris is very nice and I think flows well. Then you get a bit Jewish and s bit Welsh in there. Smile

EvilDog · 08/05/2019 08:06

@Linny88 I’m in Wales.
I like Idris, we don’t get many here any more, it’s refreshing to hear!

Sparklysunflower · 08/05/2019 07:59

Idris is a great name. And definitely less 'trendy' than Reuben. Good choice!

Original poster
Linny88 · 08/05/2019 07:46

Thanks for all your info, really useful to know. Seems to be very popular in certain pockets of the country. I’ve mentioned it to a couple of work colleagues/family members who have all said they had never heard of it until recently, but now have one friend who has used it...I think it’s set to become more popular. Might go with Idris then!

OP posts:
Original poster
Linny88 · 08/05/2019 07:43

@evildog where abouts in the country are you? Maybe I will go with Idris if it’s tat common!

OP posts:
SemperIdem · 08/05/2019 01:19

I know one personally, very young, very far from “trendsetting” London.

However - massively popular names now, in 2019, don’t carry the same numbers as they once did. There will never be as many Oliver’s or Olivia’s in the 21st century as there was John’s and Sarah’s in the 1970’s, because people are more adventurous with names now.

Russell19 · 07/05/2019 22:05

I'm a teacher and have taught 3 different Reubens in the last 3 years. 49th in England is quite popular really, I would consider top 100 as popular.

64sNewName · 07/05/2019 21:48

I’m in Scotland and know of two Reubens in our primary school.

vdbfamily · 07/05/2019 21:44

It is my favourite boy's name and I only know 2 in real life and they are older and through church so not that surprising as it is a good Biblical name.

Toodleoopuddle · 07/05/2019 21:41

Only know of one here. Don't know any idris ' but they're both amazing names

BurtTyrannosaurusMacklin · 07/05/2019 21:34

I know 2, one is 2 the other is 1. I don't know that many babies/toddlers really so it feels like quite a high percentage! South East.

hopeful31yrs · 07/05/2019 21:33

My dh wanted Jacob as a first name so Reuben got relegated to a middle name. Haven't met any Reubens in our neck of the woods (south west) but there were 5 Jacobs in his nursery class 🤦🏻‍♀️

Jedd · 07/05/2019 21:32

I'm in Yorkshire and my youngest (7) has 2 in her class and one at her gymnastics club.

aibutohavethisusername · 07/05/2019 21:30

I don’t know any.

JenSFP · 07/05/2019 20:48

Since becoming a mum in 2014 I've lived in Surrey and Bucks and haven't yet come across a Reuben. I've got two children so that includes two different nursery classes and various toddler groups etc and NCT!

SallyWD · 07/05/2019 20:40

My daughter's in year 3 and there are 2 in her class. My son's in year 1 and there's one in his class. I live in Yorkshire. I know a couple of others of primary school age.

florascotia2 · 07/05/2019 10:04

OP you can do a quick check on popularity here (it's reliable, and based on government statistics and shows trends as well as totals):
names.darkgreener.com/
Reuben = ranked 49th overall in England and Wales.

Or you can look at the government's own interactive site and look at local area statistics: www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/articles/babynameswhereyoulivecouldshapewhatyoucallyourbaby/2018-09-21

Sparklysunflower · 07/05/2019 09:58

I think Idris is a great name!

EvilDog · 07/05/2019 08:47

I know of quite a few across various toddler groups between th ages of newborn - 4.
There was also 3 reubens born in my April 2017 antenatal group out of 31 baby’s