Variant of Reuben, from Hebrew meaning "behold, a son"; Jacob's firstborn in Genesis.
Rueben is a warmly idiosyncratic spelling of Reuben, one of the great Biblical names. Its Hebrew root is "re'uben," traditionally translated as "behold, a son" — the cry of Leah upon the birth of Jacob's firstborn in the Book of Genesis. Reuben's story in the Bible is complicated and humanizing: he attempts to protect his brother Joseph from his jealous siblings and later stands as a symbol of imperfect but earnest loyalty.
The twelve tribes of Israel traced their lineage to Jacob's sons, making Reuben one of the foundational names of the Western tradition. The name traveled through Jewish communities across the centuries and entered broader English usage during the Protestant Reformation, when Biblical names became fashionable among reformers who named their children after Hebrew patriarchs. In America it developed a distinctly folksy quality — "Reuben" became a stock figure in nineteenth-century humor as the archetypal honest country fellow, a connotation that softened into affection over time.
The Reuben sandwich, invented in the early twentieth century (its precise origin remains delightfully disputed), gave the name a deli-counter immortality. The Rueben spelling adds a personal flourish to a name with deep roots, signaling that this is a family name with a particular story behind it. Writers, musicians, and athletes named Reuben have kept it contemporary without making it feel trendy.