Rufina
Feminine · “red-haired”
Justa and Rufina were potters in Seville. The story says they refused to sell their pots for a pagan festival, broke an image, and were killed for it around the end of the third century — and Seville has kept them as its patrons ever since, with the cathedral's great tower said to have stood through an earthquake because they held it up. The name itself is much plainer: rufus is Latin for red-haired.
How old is the name Rufina?
Rufina first appears in US birth records in 1892 — 133 years ago. The typical Rufina alive today was born around 1938, making them about 87 years old. About 500 people named Rufina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rufina most popular?
Rufina peaked in 1928, reaching #1366 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 11,842 places below that high. See the whole 1928 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From rufus to Rufina
The story of Rufina
Roman naming was full of physical descriptions turned into family names: Rufus, Flavus, Niger, Longus. Rufus and Rufina passed into Christian use through several martyrs, of whom the Seville potters are much the best known — their feast is still kept there and their images appear all over the city. The name stayed in Spanish and Italian use and reached American records in 1892, arriving with Spanish-speaking and Italian families. It has always been rare here.
Meaning
red-haired
From the Latin rufus, red or reddish, used of hair and complexion. It was a Roman nickname before it was a name — the sort of thing said about someone's appearance and then written on a tombstone — and Rufina is the ordinary feminine of it.
How the name formed
- rufus
- Rufina
Related forms: Rufina · Rufina · Rufina · Rufina
Pronouncing Rufina
roo-FEE-nah
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Spanish, Italian and Latin all agree on the shape, which is unusual and convenient.
Nicknames for Rufina
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
- 1892
- Most girls named
- 192832 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1366reached in 1928
- Change vs 2023
- −33.3%6 in 2025, from 9
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.
Rufina in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rufina in Spanish — same name
- Rufina in Italian — same name
- Rufina in Russian — same name
- Rufina in Latin — same name
Rufinas among us
people named Rufina are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Rufina
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 Alliene test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rufina's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Alliene climbed just as high around 1904, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Alliene's path sketches the road Rufina is walking now.
Rufina 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.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Rufina beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rufina in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is one word long and entirely concrete.
- Fina is a genuine short form used across two languages.
- Three open syllables that survive any accent intact.
- It has a documented pair of saints behind it with a memorable story.
- It belongs to an older generation and carries that flavor.
- Rufina, Rufino and Ruffina all appear, so the spelling has to be given.
- The meaning describes hair color, which may or may not apply.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Rufina to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Rufina? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Rufina
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rufinas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Rufina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rufina in 2025?
- Rufina ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rufina?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Rufina — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rufina with classmates?
- Rufina will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rufina
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
John#13208 · Vinnie#13208 · Margery#13208 · Jossie#13208 · Tressa#13208 · Erie#13208 · Bernadine#13208 · Euna#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rufina? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rufina and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle