# Reuben

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /ˈɹuː.bən/ · frequency rank #21,341

## Definitions
1. First son of Jacob, by his wife Leah.
2. A male given name from Hebrew.
3. A surname transferred from the given name
4. Ellipsis of Reuben College, Oxford.

## Etymology
* From Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (r'uvén), from רְאוּ (r'ú, “see [masculine plural imperative]”) + בֵּן (ben, “son”); its literal meaning is therefore roughly, "See, all: a son!"
* There are several unconfirmed etymologies for the name of the sandwich.

## Easily confused with
- **rube** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reuben-vs-rube)
- **reuse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reuben-vs-reuse)
- **Rubin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reuben-vs-rubin)
- **Ruben** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reuben-vs-ruben)
- **Rouen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reuben-vs-rouen)
- **rebel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rebel-vs-reuben)
- **reopen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reopen-vs-reuben)

## Common misspellings (8)
`eruben`, `rebuen`, `reubben`, `reubenn`, `reubne`, `reuebn`, `rreuben`, `rueben`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/reuben