Following Henrik’s death at the hands of werewolves, Estherβ€”at Mikael's urgingβ€”used a powerful spell to turn her children into the first vampires. Therefore, when Rebekah was (in the year 1001 A.D.), she was transformed alongside her siblings Elijah, Klaus, and Kol.

In the intricate timeline of the Vampire Diaries universe, the birth of Rebekah Mikaelson is a fixed point that anchors her entire millennia-long tragedy. Rebekah was born in the late 10th century in the Viking settlement that would later become Mystic Falls, Virginia.

Consequently, while Rebekah has physically aged and experienced over a thousand years of history, her body remains eternally frozen at the age of 18β€”a perpetual young woman carrying the hopes, heartbreaks, and fierce loyalty of the girl born in the autumn of 992 A.D.