Friday, June 01, 2012

What Does My Name Mean...

I have always wondered what the meaning on my first name is.  I therefore desiced to google it and see what pops up.  Here's Wikapedia's definition of my name, Rebecca.

Rebecca is a feminine given name originating from the Hebrew רִבְקָה (Rivkah). Its most likely meaning is "captivating". It may be Aramaic in origin, although this is contested. W.F. Albright held that it meant "soil", or "earth", and was the name of an earth-goddess.
Rebecca is an early Biblical spelling of the name. The Latin Vulgate (compiled in the 4th Century A.D.) was the version of the Bible that was used for centuries. The Latin Vulgate used the spelling Rebecca exclusively.Centuries later, when the Bible was translated into English (King James Version) in the 1600s, the spelling was changed to “Rebekah” for the Old Testament (Genesis), but the spelling “Rebecca” was retained in the New Testament (see Romans 9:10).  So the older Biblical spelling is “Rebecca,” but both spellings (Rebecca and Rebekah) are used in the original English Bible.
In the United Kingdom, it made its way into the top 100 female names during the 1960s, the top 20 during the 1970s, and the top 10 during the 1980s, finally peaking as the most popular female name in 1995. However, it slid out of the top 10 in 2000 and by 2009 had fallen to 77th.
Rebecca was the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau in the Old Testament. It may also be spelled Rebeccah, Rebekah or Rebekkah.
Rebecca has been a popular name in English-speaking countries. It has consistently ranked among the top 100 most popular names for girls in the United States (though it dropped down to 105th place for baby girls born there in 2007), in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Canada, and Australia.

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