Ruth Name Popularity

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How popular is Ruth?

Ranking 265th in popularity in the United States for girls in 2018, the name Ruth is somewhat popular.

Currently in the top 500, this name has been part of the top 500 most popular since 1880, when the Social Security Administration began record keeping.

Position 3, its highest popularity RANKING, was reached in 1893.

However, the name was bestowed upon the greatest number of babies in 1920 with 26,102 occurrences.

In any year, the least number of babies named Ruth was 234 in 1880.

Decidely upward trends in the number of babies given the name Ruth occurred roughly during the years 1887-1893, 1897-1900, and 1911-1918, whereas unequivocal downward movement occurred about 1921-1936, 1942-1945, 1954-1958, and 1959-1973.

Overall, when compared to its most prominent year, the name's popularity is at a very low point.

How popular will Ruth be?

The popularity trend for Ruth has been moving upward for a while. Of late, continuing the trend, the number of parents selecting the name Ruth for their newborn has risen.

The name Ruth is favored by many parents and will probably continue to rise upward in popularity.

Relative to what it once was, Ruth is much less frequently used as a given name.

*Mouse over the charts or scroll down to the table for data details.

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for Percentages.

		Ruth (Girl)		Ruth (Boy)
Year	%	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank
2018		1,234	265	< 5	--
2017		1,204	264	< 5	--
2016		1,097	297	< 5	--
2015		1,103	292	< 5	--
2014		1,059	309	< 5	--
2013		987	328	< 5	--
2012		928	342	< 5	--
2011		901	358	< 5	--
2010		930	346	< 5	--
2009		914	354	< 5	--
2008		924	357	5	14,201
2007		959	345	< 5	--
2006		889	365	< 5	--
2005		906	347	< 5	--
2004		907	351	< 5	--
2003		889	348	< 5	--
2002		901	337	< 5	--
2001		943	330	< 5	--
2000		907	339	< 5	--
1999		871	344	< 5	--
1998		850	342	< 5	--
1997		856	334	< 5	--
1996		801	347	< 5	--
1995		852	321	6	8,675
1994		880	310	< 5	--
1993		860	308	5	9,894
1992		853	320	< 5	--
1991		985	285	5	9,345
1990		906	305	7	7,023
1989		986	274	12	4,480
1988		998	256	14	3,669
1987		1,031	249	9	4,882
1986		1,083	239	13	3,613
1985		1,116	232	9	4,626
1984		1,165	222	11	3,888
1983		1,124	223	11	3,821
1982		1,178	222	15	3,077
1981		1,266	207	6	6,102
1980		1,254	208	8	4,858
1979		1,201	217	8	4,775
1978		1,208	212	11	3,564
1977		1,190	212	8	4,503
1976		1,198	205	11	3,439
1975		1,230	199	5	6,161
1974		1,299	196	5	5,863
1973		1,273	201	14	2,691
1972		1,383	201	< 5	--
1971		1,628	190	12	2,944
1970		1,817	178	11	3,035
1969		1,901	168	8	3,543
1968		2,148	149	8	3,318
1967		2,420	145	15	2,123
1966		2,847	128	11	2,595
1965		3,230	118	12	2,450
1964		3,637	114	17	2,027
1963		3,869	113	17	2,032
1962		4,292	104	22	1,751
1961		4,892	96	12	2,514
1960		4,944	97	17	2,027
1959		5,052	97	12	2,509
1958		5,245	90	13	2,347
1957		5,669	84	20	1,832
1956		6,076	77	13	2,348
1955		6,183	70	17	1,966
1954		6,564	66	8	3,134
1953		6,579	62	9	2,873
1952		6,953	57	17	1,928
1951		7,075	53	11	2,479
1950		7,128	49	10	2,554
1949		7,652	47	21	1,659
1948		7,904	45	14	2,099
1947		8,481	44	25	1,513
1946		8,473	38	30	1,295
1945		8,044	33	19	1,569
1944		8,675	32	32	1,188
1943		9,367	33	42	1,050
1942		9,315	33	43	1,033
1941		8,863	28	39	1,046
1940		8,885	24	36	1,105
1939		9,060	22	50	884
1938		9,302	21	43	975
1937		9,605	15	49	891
1936		9,213	16	43	949
1935		9,989	15	52	881
1934		10,568	13	65	768
1933		11,137	13	52	867
1932		12,254	11	76	717
1931		13,130	11	61	807
1930		14,940	10	70	770
1929		16,019	8	70	770
1928		17,858	6	67	803
1927		19,414	6	91	675
1926		20,223	6	73	757
1925		22,248	6	77	753
1924		23,600	6	71	807
1923		23,638	6	62	870
1922		23,630	5	73	788
1921		25,784	5	58	930
1920		26,102	5	54	945
1919		24,565	5	63	830
1918		25,534	5	47	982
1917		23,568	5	50	907
1916		23,190	5	55	853
1915		21,878	5	46	923
1914		15,839	5	46	787
1913		12,609	5	33	850
1912		11,280	5	43	647
1911		8,003	5	29	573
1910		7,212	5	35	469
1909		6,509	4	17	673
1908		6,180	4	20	578
1907		5,573	5	15	694
1906		5,140	5	19	542
1905		5,068	5	20	522
1904		4,900	5	15	609
1903		4,518	5	13	651
1902		4,384	5	17	533
1901		3,974	5	15	528
1900		4,765	5	16	645
1899		3,912	5	9	771
1898		4,249	5	15	566
1897		3,878	5	20	435
1896		3,905	5	12	667
1895		3,551	6	7	966
1894		3,372	6	15	535
1893		3,658	3	12	606
1892		3,290	5	12	632
1891		1,857	19	< 5	--
1890		1,195	46	5	1,133
1889		1,073	46	< 5	--
1888		850	59	< 5	--
1887		627	62	5	1,046
1886		581	66	< 5	--
1885		506	70	5	1,076
1884		442	74	< 5	--
1883		387	74	< 5	--
1882		323	80	< 5	--
1881		275	84	< 5	--
1880		234	93	< 5	--

United States name popularity data is provided by the Social Security Administration and is based on Social Security card applications.

Data for a given year is not made available until well into the next year.

Data reflects what was recorded and has not been edited for errors, so for example the gender associated with a name may be incorrect.

The more babies that are given a particular name, the higher the popularity ranking. If multiple names have the same usage, the tie is broken by assigning popularity rank in alphabetical order. Therefore in the case of names with fewer occurrences, names with the same number of occurrences may have vastly different rankings because they will be interranked alphabetically.

To safeguard privacy, the SSA does not include names with less than 5 occurrences.

Please note, we update the data each May when the SSA releases new figures. All data changes at that time, including previous years, which will change minutely based on new information.