BabyNamesMap

Baby names › Girls

Ruth

Meaning not yet sourced

Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1920, with 26,102 babies; 1,781 in 2025

CommonRare
Rank 2015: #291, 2016: #295, 2017: #264, 2018: #261, 2019: #231, 2020: #219, 2021: #187, 2022: #179, 2023: #187, 2024: #171, 2025: #1731 in 902 girls in the US, 2025#173 · rising · was #291 in 2015
CommonRare
Rank 2015: #455, 2016: #458, 2017: #391, 2018: #458, 2019: #582, 2020: #582, 2021: #567, 2022: #541, 2023: #545, 2024: #497, 2025: #5421 in 3,470 girls in E&W, 2025#542 · falling · was #455 in 2015

Girl’s name · Hebrew · /ɹuːθ/

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What Ruth means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Ruth yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1920, with 26,102 babies; 1,781 in 2025 Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Ruth?

US 2025
#173
1,781 babies
▼ 2 vs 2024
England & Wales 2025
#542
73 babies
▼ 45 vs 2024
Scotland 2025
#632
4 babies
▲ 6 vs 2024

US: Rising: up from #291 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #455 in 2015.

010203018801920196020002025
US, 1880–2025England & Wales, 1996–2025Babies per 1,000 girls born. Dot: biggest US share (1915)

Biggest US share so far: 1915, when 21,878 girls got the name (#5 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

  • About 1 in 902 baby girls in the US in 2025
  • About 1 in 3,470 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
  • About 1 in 4,473 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in ND (6.67 per 1,000 girls), SD (4.91 per 1,000 girls), ID (3.77 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

AK
ME
WI
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
ND
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
HI
TX
FL
FewerMore · grey: under 5 babies, not listed

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Ruth is #173 in the US and #542 in England & Wales (2025).

Rank 2025BabiesHow commonRank 2015
US#1731,7811 in 902#291
England & Wales#542731 in 3,470#455
Scotland#63241 in 4,473#318

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Ruth were girls.

GirlsBoys
US 20251,7810
England & Wales 2025730
US all years since 1880836,1222,779
England & Wales since 19964,1910

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

/ɹuːθ/

IPA from Wiktionary.

If you like Ruth

Girls

  • Davina#749Feminine form of David, meaning “beloved”
  • Esther#119“star”
  • Salem#435Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,425 in 2015, #435 in 2025
  • Miriam#246possibly “bitter”
  • Ariella#174Form of Ariel, meaning “lion of God”
  • Noah#624Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,588 in 2015, #624 in 2025

For a brother

  • Shiloh#278Editor’s note Used for both: 53% of US babies named Shiloh in 2025 were boys
  • Salem#679Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #679 vs #1,359 in 2025
  • Ira#819“watchful”
  • Raphael#394“God cures/has healed”
  • Amos#730“to carry; a burden”
  • Adriel#84“flock of God”

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Ruth’s. Rank is US 2025.

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