Rubi
Feminine · “Ruby”
Rubi is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 9,051 girls against 14 boys since 1880.
Rubi is the ruby — the red stone — written the way both English and Spanish speakers say it. Behind it sits the Latin word for red, which passed into medieval Latin as the name of the gem itself and then into nearly every European language. Two syllables, four letters, and no part of it needs explaining twice.
How old is the name Rubi?
Rubi first appears in US birth records in 1957 — 68 years ago. The typical Rubi alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 8,900 people named Rubi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rubi most popular?
Rubi peaked in 2005, reaching #431 nationally. Today it ranks #1076, 645 places below that high. See the whole 2005 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ruber to Rubi
The story of Rubi
The word came first: Latin ruber, red, which medieval Latin turned into rubinus for the red stone, and from there into Spanish rubí, French rubis and English ruby. Gem names became girls' names in English in the Victorian era, when Ruby, Pearl and Opal all arrived together, and the ruby traveled just as easily in Spanish. In Mexico the name carries a literary life of its own through Rubí, Yolanda Vargas Dulché's serialized comic, adapted for television more than once and widely watched across the Americas. In US records the unaccented spelling Rubi has risen and fallen and risen again, most strongly in California, Texas and Florida — the shape of a name living comfortably in two languages at once.
Meaning
Ruby — the red gemstone; from Latin ruber, 'red'
Rubi is a spelling of the gem name shared by English Ruby and Spanish rubí, both descended from medieval Latin rubinus, from ruber, 'red'.
How the name formed
- ruber
- rubinus
- rubí / ruby
- Ruby
- Rubi
Related forms: Ruby · Rubí · Rubie · Rubina · Rubis · Rubi
Pronouncing Rubi
ROO-bee
English speakers stress the first syllable, exactly like the gem. In Spanish the accented form Rubí puts the stress on the second: roo-BEE. Both are correct for their language, and families with roots in both often use both.
Nicknames for Rubi
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1957
- Most girls named
- 2005716 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #431reached in 2005
- Change vs 2024
- −0.9%225 in 2025, from 227
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Rubi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ruby in English — spelling variant
- Rubí in Spanish — spelling variant
- Rubie in English — spelling variant
- Rubina in Italian — related form
- Rubis in French — related form
- Rubi in Portuguese — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Rubis among us
people named Rubi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 7,143 born in 2025 was named Rubi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Rubi
- #1076
- Rubi on the 2025 chart
- #70
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Rubi went to 225 girls in 2025, but Ruby is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 3,779, which makes it the 70th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,006 places above the chart.
- Ruby3,554
- Rubi225
About 1 girl in 425 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 7,143 for Rubi itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Retha test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rubi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Retha climbed just as high around 1901, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Retha's path sketches the road Rubi is walking now.
Rubi is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Rubi is headed
Rubi should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Rubi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rubi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds in English and in Spanish, so it survives crossing between the two without being rewritten.
- Four letters and two syllables — short enough that it needs no nickname, though Ruby and Rubes are there if wanted.
- Built on a common word for a familiar red stone, so the meaning is clear to anyone without explanation.
- Forms of the same gem name exist across Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and English.
- Ruby is by far the better-known spelling in English, so expect a lifetime of gentle correction — forms, teachers and coffee cups will default to the y.
- The Spanish accent in Rubí disappears in most US paperwork, and with it the second-syllable stress. Decide early which pronunciation you'll use at home and be ready to say it first.
- It is currently gaining ground rather than fading, so it will feel more familiar to people over time — but a child with this spelling is unlikely to share a classroom with another.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Rubi
Feminine · #1076 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rubis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 8,900 people named Rubi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Rubi?
- Rubi is one of 2 recorded spellings. Ruby is the more common one — 3,554 births in 2025 against 225 for Rubi.
- How popular is the name Rubi in 2025?
- Rubi ranks #1076 among US girl names in 2025, with 225 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rubi?
- About 1 in every 7,143 US girls born in 2025 was named Rubi — 225 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rubi with classmates?
- Rubi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rubi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Nayla#1076 · Ann#1076 · Katelyn#1076 · Braelyn#1080 · Zaira#1080 · Kara#1071 · Harriet#1071 · Aniya#1071
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rubi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rubi and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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