ESC Name Rank Total Searching... No names found Try searching for: Emma, Liam, Olivia, Noah... 1880 First Year 2026 Last Year 1920 Peak Year #3 Peak Rank 838K Total Count 147 Years Active 🌍 ## Meaning & Origin of Ruth What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures. Ruth is a common female given name, noted from Ruth, the eponymous heroine of the Book of Ruth. Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth%5F%28given%5Fname%29) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth%5F%28given%5Fname%29) [![Wikipedia thumbnail for Ruth](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/1795-William-Blake-Naomi-entreating-Ruth-Orpah.jpg/330px-1795-William-Blake-Naomi-entreating-Ruth-Orpah.jpg)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth%5F%28given%5Fname%29) 📖 ## The Story of Ruth Ruth first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby girl name in 1880, with 234 babies given the name that year. Its peak popularity came in 1920, when 26,102 Ruths were born — ranking #5 that year. As of 2026, Ruth ranks #161 for baby girls with 1,841 births, rising sharply (+29% over the past five years). In total, more than 838K Ruths have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1880s through the 2020s. ## Popularity Over Time ## Popularity by State ME WA MT ND MN WI MI NY VT NH MA OR ID SD IA IL IN OH PA NJ CT RI CA NV WY NE MO KY WV VA MD DE DC UT CO KS AR TN NC SC AK AZ NM OK LA MS AL GA HI TX FL Top 10 11-50 51-100 101-500 500+ No data ⭐ ## Notable people named Ruth A small selection from Wikipedia. Tap "Read more" below to see the full list on Wikipedia. * ●Ruth Abeles (born 1942), Israeli Olympic gymnast * ●Ruth Adler (1944–1994), human rights and child welfare advocate * ●Ruth Amos (born 1989), British entrepreneur and inventor * ●Ruth Anderson (disambiguation) , several people * ●Ruth Asawa (1926–2013), American sculptor and arts education advocate * ●Ruth Aspöck (born 1947), Austrian writer * ●Ruth Baldacchino (born 1979), LGBTQIA activist * ●Ruth Becher (born 1956), Austrian politician Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth%5F%28given%5Fname%29) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth%5F%28given%5Fname%29) 🎶 ## Names that sound like Ruth Phonetically similar names — useful when Ruth is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name. * Wrath * Wreath * [Wraith](/wraith) * Writhe * [Roth](/roth) * Rath * Wroth * Wreathe * Routh * [Raith](/raith) * [Rith](/rith) * Reth Source: [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated. ❓ ## Frequently Asked Questions about Ruth What does the name Ruth mean? Ruth is a common female given name, noted from Ruth, the eponymous heroine of the Book of Ruth. How popular is Ruth in 2026? In 2026, Ruth ranks #161 among girls' names in the U.S., with 1,841 babies given the name that year. When was Ruth most popular? Ruth reached its peak popularity in 1920, ranking #3 that year with 26,102 babies given the name. In which U.S. states is Ruth most popular? Ruth has historically been most popular in North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Ruth. Is Ruth a unisex name? In U.S. Social Security records, Ruth is primarily a girl's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a boy's name. What names go well with Ruth? Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Ruth include Elizabeth, Margaret, Sarah. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data. ## Similar Names [👧ElizabethPeak #3](/elizabeth)[👧MargaretPeak #3](/margaret)[👧SarahPeak #3](/sarah)[👧CharlottePeak #3](/charlotte)[👧AmeliaPeak #3](/amelia)[👧SamanthaPeak #3](/samantha)[👧AvaPeak #3](/ava)[👧KarenPeak #3](/karen) ## About the name Ruth Ruth is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1880 and has accumulated 838K births in the dataset. Ruth's peak popularity came in 1920 when it ranked #3\. Use the chart and map above to compare Ruth's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices. ### Continue exploring * [ Top names of 1920 → ](/year/1920) * [ Names of the 1920s → ](/decade/1920s) * [ Names starting with "R" → ](/letter/r) * [ Browse all girl names → ](/names/girls) * [ Top names of 2026 → ](/year/2026) Data sources * Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. [Social Security Administration ](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/). Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships. * Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — [Behind the Name ](https://www.behindthename.com/) (used under their public API terms). * Meaning prose and editorial summary — [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/) article extracts, licensed under [CC BY-SA 3.0 ](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). * Predicted nationality distribution — [Nationalize.io ](https://nationalize.io/). * Phonetically similar names — [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.