Ruth
The 2025 national count puts Ruth at #173, keeping its place without fuss. The peak was 1920, a name your child would share with a great-aunt, which is quietly part of its charm.
What Ruth carries
Ruth · Hebrew
“beauty”
Source: Charlotte M. Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), see our sources.
Ruth’s free Name Kit
Five printables for Ruth, drawn in your browser at print size the moment you ask: a name print for the wall, a nursery sign, a tracing sheet, a shortlist sheet, and twelve sibling names with the reason for each. Letter size, 300 dpi, in the site’s own hand.
- Name print Meaning, origin and the popularity curve on one sheet, ready for a frame.
- Nursery sign The name big and bright, for a door, a shelf or the top of a dresser.
- Tracing sheet The name in dotted letters, with room to go over it again and again.
- Shortlist sheet A page for weighing names side by side: initials, nicknames, how it sounds with yours.
- Sibling names sheet Twelve names that go with this one, each with the reason, from the sibling matcher.
Name print
Meaning, origin and the popularity curve on one sheet, ready for a frame.
Nursery sign
The name big and bright, for a door, a shelf or the top of a dresser.
Tracing sheet
The name in dotted letters, with room to go over it again and again.
Shortlist sheet
A page for weighing names side by side: initials, nicknames, how it sounds with yours.
Sibling names sheet
Twelve names that go with this one, each with the reason, from the sibling matcher.
Print on plain letter paper or heavier card; the sign and the print look best on matte stock.
Ruth since 1880
Ruth peaked in 1920 at #5; #173 in 2025.
United States national data, Social Security Administration, through 2025, how we use it.
Where Ruth is most common
By share of a state's recorded girls' names, Ruth runs strongest in North Dakota at 0.67% in 2025, then South Dakota and Idaho.
Share of the state's recorded names for that sex, from the Social Security Administration's state file; a name is listed in a state only when five or more babies received it there that year.
Names that sit near Ruth
Same shelf of the library: origin, era and shape, scored deterministically.
Jack
#15 in 2025 · Hebrew
Eva
#134 in 2025 · Hebrew
Mary
#125 in 2025 · Hebrew
Miriam
#246 in 2025 · Hebrew
Anna
#107 in 2025 · Hebrew
Josephine
#53 in 2025 · Hebrew
Juan
#159 in 2025 · Hebrew
Lia
#200 in 2025 · Hebrew
Browse: names starting with R · Hebrew names · all names
About Ruth
Where does Ruth rank right now?
The 2025 national count puts Ruth at #173, keeping its place without fuss. Every point on the chart is the SSA's own count, back to 1880.
What is the recorded meaning of Ruth?
“beauty” is the meaning our source sets down, of Hebrew origin (Charlotte M. Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884)).
What names go with Ruth?
Nearest by the published recipe: Jack, Eva and Mary. The sibling matcher scores every common American name against the ones you already have.
Get Ruth’s free Name Kit
Five printables made in your browser: a name print for the wall, a nursery sign, a tracing sheet, a shortlist sheet and twelve sibling names with the reason for each. Yours in a moment, for one email.
Make the kitThe book is in the works
A printed picture book where Ruth earns every letter of their own name, page by page. See the preview pages and hear when it is ready.
Preview the book