US baby names · Girls · 1880–2025
Ruth: name popularity by year
How often US parents chose Ruth for a baby girl, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.
Ruth was one of the 10 most common girls' names in the US in 39 years, between 1892 and 1930, reaching #3. Births peaked in 1920, when 26,102 baby girls were named Ruth, so by peak year it is a Greatest Generation name.
Ruth in the US top 10, by year
Rank among girls' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named Ruth (1920).
Top-10 years by generation
| Generation | Years in top 10 | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| Lost Generation | 9 (1892–1900) | #3 |
| Greatest Generation | 27 (1901–1927) | #4 |
| Silent Generation | 3 (1928–1930) | #6 |
Every top-10 year
Questions people ask
When was the name Ruth most popular?
By number of babies, in 1920, when 26,102 girls were given the name. By rank, it reached #3 and spent 39 years in the top 10.
What generation is the name Ruth?
Its peak year, 1920, falls in Greatest Generation (1901–1927). Its 39 top-10 years fall in: Lost Generation (9), Greatest Generation (27), Silent Generation (3).
How many people have been named Ruth?
SSA counted 836,122 girls named Ruth born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.
In the top 10 at the same time
Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named Ruth are alive today.