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First Name
824k
in the U.S.
since 1880

Last Name
15k
in the U.S.
in 2010

Ruth

Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: Friendship
Free Horoscope
Gender: Girl
59^th All Time
2,414^th in 2010

Girls

Boys

First

Last

Nicknames and Given Names for Ruth

20k Ruthie

How popular is the baby name Ruth in the U.S.?

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Click Here to Show Chart Data

Year	Total Babies Born	Girls Born	Boys Born	Ranking
1880	234	234	0	#93 girl name
1881	275	275	0	#84 girl name
1882	323	323	0	#80 girl name
1883	387	387	0	#73 girl name
1884	442	442	0	#74 girl name
1885	511	506	5	#70 girl name
1886	581	581	0	#66 girl name
1887	632	627	5	#62 girl name
1888	850	850	0	#59 girl name
1889	1,073	1,073	0	#46 girl name
1890	1,200	1,195	5	#46 girl name
1891	1,857	1,857	0	#19 girl name
1892	3,302	3,290	12	#5 girl name
1893	3,670	3,658	12	#3 girl name
1894	3,387	3,372	15	#6 girl name
1895	3,558	3,551	7	#6 girl name
1896	3,917	3,905	12	#5 girl name
1897	3,898	3,878	20	#5 girl name
1898	4,264	4,249	15	#5 girl name
1899	3,921	3,912	9	#5 girl name
1900	4,781	4,765	16	#5 girl name
1901	3,989	3,974	15	#5 girl name
1902	4,401	4,384	17	#5 girl name
1903	4,531	4,518	13	#5 girl name
1904	4,915	4,900	15	#5 girl name
1905	5,088	5,068	20	#5 girl name
1906	5,159	5,140	19	#5 girl name
1907	5,588	5,573	15	#5 girl name
1908	6,200	6,180	20	#4 girl name
1909	6,526	6,509	17	#4 girl name
1910	7,247	7,212	35	#5 girl name
1911	8,032	8,003	29	#5 girl name
1912	11,323	11,280	43	#5 girl name
1913	12,641	12,608	33	#5 girl name
1914	15,885	15,839	46	#5 girl name
1915	21,927	21,881	46	#5 girl name
1916	23,244	23,189	55	#5 girl name
1917	23,617	23,567	50	#5 girl name
1918	25,582	25,535	47	#5 girl name
1919	24,629	24,566	63	#5 girl name
1920	26,154	26,100	54	#5 girl name
1921	25,841	25,783	58	#5 girl name
1922	23,701	23,628	73	#5 girl name
1923	23,698	23,636	62	#6 girl name
1924	23,672	23,601	71	#6 girl name
1925	22,327	22,250	77	#6 girl name
1926	20,289	20,216	73	#6 girl name
1927	19,503	19,412	91	#6 girl name
1928	17,931	17,864	67	#6 girl name
1929	16,084	16,014	70	#8 girl name
1930	15,008	14,938	70	#10 girl name
1931	13,188	13,127	61	#11 girl name
1932	12,328	12,252	76	#11 girl name
1933	11,189	11,137	52	#13 girl name
1934	10,630	10,565	65	#13 girl name
1935	10,041	9,989	52	#15 girl name
1936	9,255	9,212	43	#16 girl name
1937	9,654	9,605	49	#15 girl name
1938	9,343	9,300	43	#21 girl name
1939	9,109	9,059	50	#22 girl name
1940	8,922	8,886	36	#24 girl name
1941	8,901	8,862	39	#28 girl name
1942	9,356	9,313	43	#33 girl name
1943	9,406	9,365	41	#33 girl name
1944	8,707	8,675	32	#32 girl name
1945	8,062	8,043	19	#33 girl name
1946	8,503	8,473	30	#38 girl name
1947	8,506	8,481	25	#44 girl name
1948	7,915	7,901	14	#45 girl name
1949	7,672	7,651	21	#47 girl name
1950	7,136	7,126	10	#49 girl name
1951	7,089	7,078	11	#53 girl name
1952	6,964	6,947	17	#57 girl name
1953	6,588	6,579	9	#62 girl name
1954	6,570	6,562	8	#66 girl name
1955	6,203	6,186	17	#70 girl name
1956	6,085	6,072	13	#77 girl name
1957	5,689	5,669	20	#84 girl name
1958	5,260	5,247	13	#90 girl name
1959	5,063	5,051	12	#97 girl name
1960	4,960	4,943	17	#97 girl name
1961	4,904	4,892	12	#96 girl name
1962	4,315	4,293	22
1963	3,886	3,869	17
1964	3,653	3,636	17
1965	3,243	3,231	12
1966	2,858	2,847	11
1967	2,434	2,419	15
1968	2,156	2,148	8
1969	1,909	1,901	8
1970	1,829	1,818	11
1971	1,640	1,628	12
1972	1,384	1,384	0
1973	1,288	1,274	14
1974	1,305	1,300	5
1975	1,235	1,230	5
1976	1,209	1,198	11
1977	1,197	1,189	8
1978	1,219	1,208	11
1979	1,208	1,200	8
1980	1,262	1,254	8
1981	1,272	1,266	6
1982	1,191	1,176	15
1983	1,135	1,124	11
1984	1,173	1,162	11
1985	1,125	1,116	9
1986	1,095	1,082	13
1987	1,040	1,031	9
1988	1,011	997	14
1989	998	986	12
1990	913	906	7
1991	989	984	5
1992	853	853	0
1993	860	855	5
1994	879	879	0
1995	855	849	6
1996	800	800	0
1997	856	856	0
1998	848	848	0
1999	866	866	0
2000	902	902	0
2001	938	938	0
2002	900	900	0
2003	886	886	0
2004	905	905	0
2005	906	906	0
2006	888	888	0
2007	956	956	0
2008	929	924	5
2009	912	912	0
2010	928	928	0
2011	897	897	0
2012	925	925	0
2013	982	982	0
2014	1,053	1,053	0
2015	1,092	1,092	0

Fun Facts about the name Ruth

How many people with the first name Ruth have been born in the United States? From 1880 to 2015, the Social Security Administration has recorded 823,981 babies born with the first name Ruth in the United States. That's more than enough people named Ruth to occupy the country of Guyana with an estimated population of 784,894 (as of July 1, 2010).
What year were 5 or more babies first named Ruth? The name was first given to 5 or more babies in the year 1880 when it was given as a first name to 234 new born babies.
When was Ruth first recorded in the United States? The oldest recorded birth by the Social Security Administration for the first name Ruth is Thursday, May 12th, 1825.
What year had the most people named Ruth born? The highest recorded use of the first name Ruth was in 1920 with a total of 26,100 babies. That's a lot of babies named Ruth!
Random Ruth Factoid: According to the 1912 U.S. Social Security Administration data, the first name Ruth ranks 9^th in popularity as a baby girl's name in Mississippi. Imagine that, 136 babies in Mississippi have the same name as you in 1912.
Weird things about the name Ruth: Your name in reverse order is Htur. A random rearrangement of the letters in your name (anagram) will give Uthr. How do you pronounce that?
How many people have the last name Ruth? In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau surveyed 15,012 people with the last name Ruth.
How likely are you to meet someone with the last name of Ruth? If you manage to meet 100,000 people in your life, chances are that 5 of them will have Ruth as their last name.

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Where is the name Ruth popular?

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Popularity of Ruth as a first name

The map shows the relative popularity of the name Ruth as a first name in each of the states. See other popular names in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, or North Dakota.

Popularity of Ruth as a last name

The map shows the relative popularity of the name Ruth as a last name in each of the states. See other popular names in Pennsylvania, Maryland, or Delaware.

Common last names for Ruth

Smith
Johnson
Miller
Brown
Jones
Williams
Davis
Anderson
Wilson
Moore
Taylor
Thompson
Martin
White
Thomas
Clark
Harris
Nelson
Lewis
Jackson

Common first names for Ruth

Ethnicity Distribution

Ethnicity		Ruth	U.S.
█	White	82.54%	64.26%
█	African American	11.83%	11.96%
█	Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander	0.84%	4.85%
█	American Indian and Alaska Native	0.49%	0.69%
█	Two or More Ethnicities	1.57%	1.76%
█	Hispanic or Latino	2.73%	16.26%

Of Last Name Ruth

People with the last name Ruth are most frequently White or African American

Entire United States

Meaning, Origin, Inspirations, and Associations

Have you been wondering what does the name "Ruth" mean? The list below shows the origins of Ruth as well as things modernly associated with the name Ruth such as celebrities named Ruth.

Hebrew

Origin and Meaning of Ruth

The name "Ruth" is of Hebrew origin, and it means "Friendship". It's a name commonly given to girls.

Webster's Unabridged Dictionary

noun Ruth

Senses

Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness.(Poetic)"They weep for ruth."Chaucer."Have ruthof the poor."Piers Plowman."To stir up gentle ruth, Both for her noble blood, and for her tender youth." [Spenser.]
That which causes pity or compassion; misery; distress; a pitiful sight.(Obs)"It had been hard this ruth for to see." [Chaucer.]"With wretched miseries and woeful ruth." [Spenser.]

Etymology: From Rue (v.): cf. Icel. hryggð hrygð

Other Dictionary Sources

A book of the Old Testament that tells the story of Ruth who was not an Israelite but who married an Israelite and who stayed with her mother-in-law Naomi after her husband died
Synonyms: book of ruth
A feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others
Synonyms: commiseration, pathos, and pity
The great-grandmother of king David whose story is told in the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament
United States professional baseball player famous for hitting home runs (1895-1948)
Synonyms: babe ruth, george herman ruth, and sultan of swat

Wiktionary

From Ruth the Moabite, Hebrew רות, of uncertain origin, possibly meaning "companion". Also associated with the English noun ruth by Puritans.

A book of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanakh.
Ruth, the resident of Moab around whom the text centers.
A female given name.

Ruth was also found in the following language(s): Danish, Dutch, Estonian, German, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish

Notable Persons With the Name Ruth

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a judge. Ruth was born on March 15th, 1933.

Popularity:

Bette Davis

Bette Davis was an actress. She was most active from 1929 to 1989. Bette was given the name Ruth Elizabeth Davis on April 5th, 1908 in Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S. She left this life on October 6th, 1989.

Popularity:

Ruth Negga

Ruth Negga is an actress. She was most active from 2004 to present. Ruth was born Ruth Negga in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Popularity:

Ruth Wilson

Ruth Wilson is an actress. She has had major accomplishments since 2005. Ruth was born on January 13th, 1982 in Ashford, Middlesex, England.

Popularity:

Ruth Williams Khama

Ruth Williams Khama was an influential individual. Ruth was born on December 9th, 1923 in Blackheath, London. Ruth is also known as First Lady of Botswana. She left this life on May 22nd, 2002.

Popularity: