first name
RUTH
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 285,959 people named Ruth, 71.1% reported their origin as White, 15.3% as Hispanic or Latino and 9.2% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Ruth peaked in 1920, when 26,156 babies got the name.
At least 838,901 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Ruth by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1900s, when it ranked #8. The largest share of babies named Ruth, 48.4%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Ruth is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Ruth has been most common in West Virginia (1.9×), Pennsylvania (1.7×), and Vermont (1.7×), and least common in Nevada (0.23×).
745,612 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Ruth
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Ruth, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Ruth ranks #2,483 of 156,621, with 14,156 people. See Ruth as a last name
Compare
🔎 RUTH 🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 1,056 Americans More common than 60% of us Peaked in 1920 with 26,156 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/ruth/