Head to head · Girls' names
Reese vs Ruth
#192 vs #173 in 2025
Ruth is a whisker ahead (#173 vs #192 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Ruth is back after a long quiet spell, Reese is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Ruth leads 6 measures of 6; Reese leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Reese —, Ruth #71 — Ruth higher
- 1890s: Reese —, Ruth #11 — Ruth higher
- 1900s: Reese —, Ruth #5 — Ruth higher
- 1910s: Reese —, Ruth #5 — Ruth higher
- 1920s: Reese #4434, Ruth #6 — Ruth higher
- 1930s: Reese —, Ruth #15 — Ruth higher
- 1940s: Reese —, Ruth #36 — Ruth higher
- 1950s: Reese #6245, Ruth #71 — Ruth higher
- 1960s: Reese —, Ruth #123 — Ruth higher
- 1970s: Reese —, Ruth #201 — Ruth higher
- 1980s: Reese —, Ruth #233 — Ruth higher
- 1990s: Reese #5903, Ruth #321 — Ruth higher
- 2000s: Reese #355, Ruth #346 — Ruth higher
- 2010s: Reese #156, Ruth #301 — Reese higher
- 2020s: Reese #170, Ruth #186 — Reese higher
Ruth stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Reese has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Reese | Ruth |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #71 |
| 1890s | — | #11 |
| 1900s | — | #5 |
| 1910s | — | #5 |
| 1920s | #4434 | #6 |
| 1930s | — | #15 |
| 1940s | — | #36 |
| 1950s | #6245 | #71 |
| 1960s | — | #123 |
| 1970s | — | #201 |
| 1980s | — | #233 |
| 1990s | #5903 | #321 |
| 2000s | #355 | #346 |
| 2010s | #156 | #301 |
| 2020s | #170 | #186 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Reese
Ardor, enthusiasm; fiery zeal
The Welsh root rhys is usually glossed as ardor or enthusiasm, and often rendered in name books as "fiery" or "ardent".
Rhys → Rees → Reese
How it traveled
The name begins in Wales as Rhys, borne by princes of the medieval Welsh kingdoms and common enough among ordinary Welsh families that it hardened into surnames — Rees, Reese, Rice, and Preece, from ap Rhys, "son of Rhys". Those surnames crossed the Atlantic with Welsh emigrants and settled into American records, where Reese became the usual spelling.
Ruth
companion, friend
The Hebrew is usually read as a word about companionship, though the derivation is not secure. Four letters, one syllable, and an etymology that cannot be pinned down.
Rut → Ruth
How it traveled
The book is short, domestic and legal: a famine, a migration, two widows, a field, a kinsman with an obligation and a transaction at a town gate with ten witnesses. There is no miracle in it and God is mentioned but does nothing visible.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Reese
REESS
One syllable, rhyming with peace. The final sound is a hissed s, not a z; the same pronunciation covers Reece, Rees and Welsh Rhys.
- Reesie — Affectionate home form, mostly used with young children.
- Ree — Informal clipping; rare, since the full name is already one syllable.
- Rhys — Not a nickname but the Welsh original — some families use it as the formal written form.
Ruth
ROOTH
One syllable, rhyming with truth. Said essentially the same way in English, German, Spanish and Hebrew.
- Ruthie — The affectionate form; used widely and often on later paperwork.
- Ru — Cut to one sound; used inside families rather than written.
Who has carried each name
Reese
Reese Witherspoon (b. 1976) — Legally Blonde star turned Oscar winner and media mogul
Ruth
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (b. 1933) — Supreme Court justice who became "the Notorious RBG"
Ruth Handler (b. 1916) — Invented Barbie — and named her after her daughter
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Reese if you want…
- a name fewer children share#192 in 2025 — reese will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name past its most crowded yearsReese is stepping back from its peak
- a newer arrivalReese entered the US charts in 1924
- a name that feels very nowReese is stepping back from its peak
Choose Ruth if you want…
- a name most people already know#173 in 2025, 1,781 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 46 places on the charts in five years
- a long American recordRuth was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Reese
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Reese
Strengths
- One syllable, one clear sound — easy to say, easy to hear across a playground, and it needs no shortening.
- Instantly familiar to Americans as a word and a surname, so it is read correctly on sight even by people meeting it for the first time.
- A documented line back to medieval Welsh Rhys, which gives it real depth for families with Welsh roots.
To consider
- In the US, Reese is also the name of a very well-known peanut butter candy, spelled identically. Most children shrug it off, but expect the joke at some point.
- Four spellings compete — Reese, Reece, Rees, Rhys — so the name will often be spelled back to you wrong even when it is heard right.
- Most American Reeses are girls, so a boy called Reese may be assumed female on paperwork and rosters, even though the boys' line is the older one.
Ruth
Strengths
- One syllable and four letters, with no possible mispronunciation.
- It is recognized in Jewish and Christian tradition alike and spelled the same in most European languages.
- It has an unbroken run in American records from the first year they were kept.
To consider
- It is strongly associated with the early twentieth century, though it has begun to return.
- The English word ruth, meaning pity, is dead except in ruthless, and people will mention it.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of boys, though it reads overwhelmingly as a girl's name.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Reese
40%chance Reese feels dated by 2040
Reese sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Ruth
12%chance Ruth feels dated by 2040
Ruth has held the top-100 across 8 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Reese and Ruth in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Reese and Ruth?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Borrowed from the boys: names girls are winning
- One-syllable names: said in a single beat
- Five-letter names, the comfortable middle
- Names with a double letter
- all guides
Where Reese and Ruth each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Reese or Ruth — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Reese or Ruth?
- Ruth, in 2025: Ruth ranked #173 with 1,781 babies; Reese ranked #192 with 1,631 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Reese or Ruth?
- Ruth. Over the last five years Reese moved down 47 places; Ruth moved up 46 places.
- Which is the older name, Reese or Ruth?
- Reese entered the US charts in 1924; Ruth was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Ruth is the older name.
- How many people are named Reese and Ruth?
- About 44,500 people named Reese are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 233,000 people named Ruth are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Reeses or Ruths in the classroom?
- Reese will almost certainly be the only one in school. Ruth will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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