Ruth
Feminine · “companion”
Ruth is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 836,122 girls against 2,779 boys since 1880. See Ruth as a boy name
Ruth is one of two books in the Hebrew Bible named for a woman, and it is read aloud once a year at a festival about wheat. Nobody is entirely sure why. The explanations offered — the harvest setting, the timing of the story, the theme of accepting a law — have been argued about for centuries and none has settled it.
How old is the name Ruth?
Ruth was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Ruth alive today was born around 1924, making them about 101 years old. About 233,000 people named Ruth are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ruth most popular?
Ruth peaked in 1893, reaching #3 nationally. Today it ranks #173, 170 places below that high. See the whole 1893 chart.
Where it comes from
From Rut to Ruth
The story of Ruth
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. It ends with a genealogy that makes its Moabite heroine the great-grandmother of David, which is the point the whole thing has been building toward. It is read at Shavuot in synagogues everywhere, and it is one of the shortest names in the Bible attached to one of its most carefully constructed stories.
Meaningscholars disagree
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.
Cultural footprint
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.
How the name formed
- Rut
- Ruth
Related forms: Rut · Rut · Rut · Rut
Pronouncing Ruth
ROOTH
One syllable, rhyming with truth. Said essentially the same way in English, German, Spanish and Hebrew.
Nicknames for Ruth
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 192125,783 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3reached in 1893
- Change vs 2022
- +6.8%1,781 in 2025, from 1,668
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.
Ruth in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rut in Hebrew — transliteration
- Rut in Spanish — same name
- Rut in German — same name
- Rut in Italian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York.
Ruths among us
people named Ruth are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 902 born in 2025 was named Ruth
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Ruth is headed
Ruth 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.
Ruth beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ruth in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- 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.
- It works well in front of long surnames, where fuller names get crowded.
- 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.
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What they receive
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Ruth
Feminine · #173 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ruths are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 233,000 people named Ruth are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ruth in 2025?
- Ruth ranks #173 among US girl names in 2025, with 1,781 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ruth?
- About 1 in every 902 US girls born in 2025 was named Ruth — 1,781 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ruth with classmates?
- Ruth will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ruth
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ariella#174 · Vivienne#172 · Callie#175 · Rosalie#171 · Freya#176 · Gemma#170 · Isabel#176 · Blair#169
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ruth? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ruth 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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