Every Girl Name

Girl's name

Ruth

Say it ROOTH

Hebrew origin possibly companion 1 syllable

Sister names Middle names Deal sisters

Where Ruth is loved, common and rare

Common across Israel and Sweden. Rare in four German cities, Ireland, Norway and 13 more places.

1 in 1,243 girls born in Ireland in 2025

Every place

In 21 of the 40 official lists, among them Israel (24th), Sweden (88th) and Ireland (247th).

Show all 21 placesShow less
PlaceRankGirlsShare
Israel רות24th 2024602about 1 in 130
Sweden88th 2025114about 1 in 352
Ireland247th 2025171 in 1,243
Norway287th 2025131 in 1,677
Ontario province298th 202442about 1 in 1,297
Catalonia region311th 2025111 in 1,752
British Columbia province321st 202310about 1 in 1,196
Northern Ireland397th 202531 in 2,429
Cologne city419th 20232about 1 in 3,072
England and Wales542nd 2025731 in 3,470
Austria566th 202581 in 4,465
Berlin city615th 20234about 1 in 3,626
Scotland632nd 202541 in 4,473
Poland706th 202521 in 59,894
Quebec province775th 20255about 1 in 5,201
The Netherlands907th 202511about 1 in 5,547
France981st 2025351 in 8,194
Switzerland1013th 202551 in 6,799
Italy2199th 202431 in 59,723
Leipzig city107th 20255about 1 in 525
Bonn city382nd 20251about 1 in 3,015

Rare, below the listed names: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, New Zealand, Munich, Rostock, Spain, Hungary and Slovenia.

Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).

Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.

Israel publishes names in Hebrew script. The Latin spelling shown is our transliteration; the published form is shown beside it.

Sources: Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel) (Israel); Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) (Sweden); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); Statistics Norway (SSB) (Norway); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); Idescat (Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya) (Catalonia); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (British Columbia); NISRA (Northern Ireland); Stadt Köln, Standesamt (offenedaten-koeln.de) (Cologne); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); BerlinOnline GmbH; Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten (LABO) / Standesämter (Berlin); National Records of Scotland (Scotland); Ministerstwo Cyfryzacji, rejestr PESEL (dane.gov.pl) (Poland); Retraite Québec (Banque de prénoms, Données Québec) (Quebec); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy); Stadt Leipzig, Standesamt (opendata.leipzig.de) (Leipzig); Bundesstadt Bonn, Standesamt (opendata.bonn.de) (Bonn). How we count, and every source

About the name

In the Book of Ruth, Ruth is the Moabite woman famous for her loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi. The Hebrew name is of uncertain origin and possibly means 'companion'. English Puritans also connected it with the old English noun ruth, 'compassion'.

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A single syllable, said ROOTH, short and gentle. Ruthie and Ruthy are pet forms, and Rut, Ruta and Ruti are versions used in other languages.

Israel is where it is most popular today, a top-30 name there, and it is also used in Sweden and Norway. In the English-speaking world it appears in Ireland, Ontario and British Columbia. Canadian records put its peak in the late 1920s, so it is a classic of an earlier generation, and today it is rising in some regions and falling in others.

Meaning, origin, pronunciation

Pronounced
ROOTH, 1 syllable
Meaning
possibly companion
Origin
Hebrew
Other spellings
  • Rut
  • Ruthie
  • Ruthlyn
  • Ruthy
  • Ruut
  • Ruta
  • Ruti
  • Rute
  • Rutt
  • Rūta
Etymology

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

From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.

Over time

Over five years: rising in 4 of 16 regions, falling in 6.

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Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.

Israel 46th 1996 to 24th 2024
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Sweden 343rd 2000 to 88th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Ireland 53rd 1996 to 247th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Norway 341st 1996 to 287th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Ontario 297th 1996 to 298th 2024
1st10th100th1000th19962025
Catalonia 89th 1997 to 311th 2025
1st10th100th1000th19962025

Ten years of ranks

Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.

Region2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
England and Wales458391458582582567541545497542
Scotland585369449447765558531482638632
Northern Ireland353434298350305391397
Ireland129130128137194165203279275247
Ontario414402428346297292299276298
British Columbia376257460390299286321
Quebec915715810684775
France118310419458619891106107113031013981
The Netherlands928637667715662538776682907
Austria468312227288308425292407504566
Switzerland7336961033114092212091832131013161013
Berlin127235432398436301332615
Cologne166345254238432322643419
Bonn220134226221168186380382
Leipzig253257243191164157361107
Rostock283228202199158
Norway257277269294262273349302227287
Sweden1631451671241081081111008588
Catalonia138182179164291248320271297311
Italy1141224518562199
Israel252924242227221824

England and Wales, 1996 to 2025

YearRankGirlsper 100,000 girls
20255427328.8
20244977930.6
20235457127.7
20225417227.3
20215676925.2
20205826725.0
20195826924.6
20184589432.6
201739111438.1
20164589530.9
20154559530.9
20144489731.6
201339710734.7
201245110031.0
201141410633.0
201041910332.1
200934212941.2
200835212740.2
200737811136.3
200629615250.8
200528215152.4
200426416357.0
200326415957.1
200223617264.3
200122218067.2
200019621277.6
199918024787.7
199816626692.0
1997140330112.6
1996120381128.7

Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.

Ontario and British Columbia since 1925

Half of the babies named Ruth in Ontario and British Columbia since 1925 were born in or after 1945. First recorded in 1925. Her peak year there: 1928, at 1,738.4 per 100,000 girls.

01,0002,0001940196019802000202001,0002,00019602000

Babies named Ruth per 100,000 girls born in Ontario and British Columbia, by five-year period. Her 1928 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.

Sources: Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (1917-2024), OGL-Ontario; BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (1924-2023), OGL-BC.

Sister names for Ruth

  1. 1 in 515 in Ireland

  2. 1 in 2,641 in Ireland

  3. 1 in 604 in Ireland

  4. 1 in 2,347 in Ireland

  5. 1 in 2,556 in Scotland

  6. 1 in 754 in Ireland

  7. 1 in 1,627 in Scotland

  8. 1 in 347 in Northern Ireland

  9. 1 in 291 in Northern Ireland

  10. 1 in 880 in Ireland

All sister names for RuthDeal more sisters

Middle names for Ruth

  1. 1 in 71 in Scotland

  2. 1 in 107 in Northern Ireland

  3. 1 in 78 in Northern Ireland

  4. 1 in 86 in Ireland

  5. 1 in 95 in Northern Ireland

  6. 1 in 154 in Ireland

  7. 1 in 197 in Ireland

  8. 1 in 311 in Ireland

All middle names for RuthDeal more middle names

Same style as Ruth

Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.

  1. 1 in 761 in England and Wales

  2. 1 in 1,286 in England and Wales

  3. 1 in 515 in Ireland

  4. 1 in 1,627 in Scotland

  5. 1 in 1,174 in Ireland

  6. 1 in 1,243 in Ireland

  7. 1 in 640 in Ireland

  8. 1 in 1,056 in Ireland

Deal more in this style

Famous people named Ruth

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ruth Benedict, Ruth Gordon, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Ruth Rendell, Ruth Handler, Ruth Negga and Ruth Westheimer.

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People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.

Questions about Ruth

5 questions, on how popular she is, what it means, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.

Show all 5 questionsShow less
How popular is Ruth?

Her best rank is No. 24 in Israel in 2024, about 1 in 130 girls. She is in the published lists of 21 of our 40 regions.

What does Ruth mean?

Wiktionary glosses Ruth as "possibly companion".

How do you pronounce Ruth?

ROOTH, with 1 syllable.

Is Ruth getting more popular?

Over five years: rising in 4 of 16 regions, falling in 6.

Which sister names go with Ruth?

The deck's top five sisters for Ruth: Mary, Ann, Margaret, Gloria and Leona. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.

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