as a First Name
Biblical name (of uncertain derivation) of a Moabite woman who left her own people to remain with her mother-in-law Naomi, and afterwards became the wife of Boaz and an ancestress of David. Her story is told in the book of the Bible that bears her name. It was used among the Puritans in England in the 16th century, partly because of its association with the English vocabulary word ruth meaning ‘compassion’. It has always been popular as a Jewish name, but is now also widespread among people of many different cultures and creeds.
| 98th in the U.S. for 2011 |
Nicknames & variations
Quick facts
- Hundreds of thousands
- of people in the U.S have this name
- 536,182
- to be exact (as of February 2011)
- 718,619
- if you include dead people (since the government started keeping track)
- Pennsylvania
- has the most people named Ruth per capita
- 1911
- marked the height of its popularity
99.97%
0.03%
73%
55+
55+
19%
30-54
30-54
4%
13-29
13-29
4%
0-12
0-12
Top state populations
U.S. Distribution Map
