Rue
Feminine · Latin roots · “the herb rue”
Rue is given to both — 1,565 girls and 319 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Rue is a plant from an old garden — a blue-green herb with a bitter scent, grown in monastery beds and physic gardens for centuries. Shakespeare put it in Ophelia's hands in Hamlet, where she calls it the herb of grace o' Sundays. The name is a single syllable that opens and closes on a breath, and it has served for generations as the short form of Ruth.
How old is the name Rue?
Rue first appears in US birth records in 1896 — 129 years ago. The typical Rue is a kid of about 4 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,300 people named Rue are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rue most popular?
Rue peaked in 2024, reaching #1240 nationally. Today it ranks #1318, 78 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Rue appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From ruta (Latin) to Rue
The story of Rue
The herb came into English as rue from Latin ruta, and it was a working plant name long before it was a personal one — bitter, medicinal, planted for strewing and for physic. Its most famous appearance is Ophelia's flower speech in Hamlet, where rue is named alongside rosemary and pansies. As a given name in the United States, Rue arrived by two roads: as one of the flower-and-herb names that English speakers have drawn on since the nineteenth century, and as a household shortening of Ruth. The recent climb owes something to a third road, Rue being the name of a character in Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games, published in 2008.
Meaningscholars disagree
the herb rue; also 'regret, sorrow'
Two unrelated words meet at this spelling. One is the plant name, from Latin ruta by way of Greek, used in English since the Middle Ages. The other is the native English rue, 'to regret', from Old English hreowan. Separately, Rue has long been used simply as a clipped form of Ruth, which carries its own meaning of 'companion, friend'.
How the name formed
- rutaLatin
- rueEnglish herb name
- Rue
Related forms: Rūta · Rūta · Ruta · Ruta · Ruth
Pronouncing Rue
ROO
One syllable, rhyming with 'blue'. Nothing about the spelling misleads an English speaker, though it is sometimes heard as the French word for street.
Nicknames for Rue
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
- 1896
- Most girls named
- 2024188 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1240reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −10.1%169 in 2025, from 188
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.
Rue in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rūta in Lithuanian — related form
- Rūta in Latvian — related form
- Ruta in Polish — related form
- Ruta in Latin — related form
- Ruth in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Utah.
Rues among us
people named Rue are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 9,510 born in 2025 was named Rue
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Raeann test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rue's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Raeann climbed just as high around 1965, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Raeann's path sketches the road Rue is walking now.
Rue 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 Rue is headed
Rue is on a steep climb — if the curve holds, 2030 could see around 65% more babies given the name than today. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Rue beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rue in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable, instantly sayable, and spelled the way it sounds once heard.
- Sits in the long-established family of English plant names — Ivy, Fern, Clover — so it reads as a name, not an invention.
- Works either as a full given name or as the traditional short form of Ruth, which leaves both options open.
- Has cognate forms across Europe, including Lithuanian and Latvian Rūta, so the word travels.
- Rare enough that a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate.
- The other rue means regret, and older readers or word-minded relatives will hear that first. It is a homophone, not the source of the plant name, but the association is there and worth being at peace with.
- Much of the recent interest traces to a character in The Hunger Games, a child who does not survive the story. Many people will make that connection; some will love it, some will find it sad.
- At one syllable it can feel clipped against a short surname, so it is worth saying the full combination aloud a few times.
- Expect the occasional 'Roo?' or 'Ruth?' when giving it over the phone — easily fixed, but a lifelong small chore.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Rue
Feminine · Latin roots · #1318 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rues are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Rue are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rue in 2025?
- Rue ranks #1318 among US girl names in 2025, with 169 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rue?
- About 1 in every 9,510 US girls born in 2025 was named Rue — 169 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rue with classmates?
- Rue will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rue
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jaylah#1318 · Miyori#1318 · Ailyn#1318 · Emberlyn#1318 · Zamira#1318 · Liah#1318 · Azul#1318 · Cara#1326
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rue? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rue and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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