Ruthanna
Feminine · “grace”
Ruth is not receiving charity when she gleans. Leviticus requires a harvester to leave the corners of the field and anything dropped, specifically for the poor and the foreigner, and Ruth is both. She is exercising a legal right, and the whole book turns on her knowing it.
How old is the name Ruthanna?
Ruthanna first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Ruthanna alive today was born around 1943, making them about 82 years old. About 400 people named Ruthanna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ruthanna most popular?
Ruthanna peaked in 1929, reaching #1704 nationally. Today it ranks #11932, 10,228 places below that high. See the whole 1929 chart.
Where it comes from
From Rut to Ruthanna
The story of Ruthanna
The gleaning laws are the background to everything that happens. A landowner had to leave the edges of a field uncut and could not go back for what was dropped, and the poor, the widow, the orphan and the resident foreigner were entitled to it. Ruth is a Moabite widow and qualifies twice over. What Boaz does beyond the law is instruct his men to leave extra, and to leave her alone. The transaction at the end is legal too, and the narrator stops to explain a custom about taking off a sandal to seal a transfer, which tells you the practice was already obsolete when the book was written down.
Meaningscholars disagree
grace, joined to a name with no settled meaning
Ruth is Hebrew and its meaning has never been established; a connection with reut, companionship, is the usual proposal and may have been read back from the story. Anna is Hebrew Hannah, grace or favor, and is settled. The compound is an American double name.
How the name formed
- Rut
- Ruth
- Ruthanna
Pronouncing Ruthanna
ROO-thann-uh
Three syllables, stress on the first, with a clear secondary beat on the second. Families that keep the two halves separate give the second almost as much weight as the first.
Nicknames for Ruthanna
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
- 1914
- Most girls named
- 192324 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1704reached in 1929
- Change vs 2023
- −12.5%7 in 2025, from 8
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.
Ruthannas among us
people named Ruthanna are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 229,610 born in 2025 was named Ruthanna
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 Corinthia test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ruthanna's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Corinthia climbed just as high around 1905, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Corinthia's path sketches the road Ruthanna is walking now.
Ruthanna 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
Ruthanna beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ruthanna in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three short forms, all of which are full names in their own right.
- One half has a documented meaning and the other has a documented story.
- Three syllables that sit easily in front of most surnames.
- Most people will use Ruth or Anna and stop there.
- Ruthann, Ruth Ann and Ruthanne are all written, so the spacing will be queried.
- It is strongly represented among the oldest generations and reads clearly as of that time.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Ruthanna
Feminine · #11932 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ruthannas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Ruthanna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ruthanna in 2025?
- Ruthanna ranks #11932 among US girl names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ruthanna?
- About 1 in every 229,610 US girls born in 2025 was named Ruthanna — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ruthanna with classmates?
- Ruthanna will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ruthanna
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vina#11932 · Retta#11932 · Missouri#11932 · Iola#11932 · Eddie#11932 · Thomas#11932 · Louetta#11932 · Elvina#11932
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ruthanna? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ruthanna and another name?
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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