Ruth (given name)

Ruth

The Biblical Naomi entreating her daughters-in-law Ruth and Orpah in this image by William Blake based on the Book of Ruth.

Pronunciation| /ˈruːθ/ ROOTH
Gender| female
Origin
Word/name| Hebrew
Meaning| "Friend"

Ruth (Hebrew: רות rut, IPA: [ʁut]) is a common female given name, noted from Ruth, the eponymous heroine of the eighth book of the Old Testament.

## History of usage

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Not evidently in regular usage among the ancient Hebrews, the name of the Biblical figure Ruth is generally equated with the Aramaic רְעוּת (re'ut): companion, which meaning accords with the character of the Biblical Ruth, who, despite being widowed, chooses to remain with her mother-in-law Naomi (to whom Ruth speaks the iconic quote: "Whither thou goest, I will go.")[1]

Ruth first occurs as a given name in Europe and the British Isles at the time of the Reformation, prior to which the occurrence of Biblical names – unless borne by saints – was unusual.[2]

Although Puritans generally disfavored Biblical proper names, they seemingly made an exception for Ruth, as it could be interpreted as a virtue name via equation with ruth, a then-common noun (Germanic in origin) which overall meant sorrow but which could be interpreted as compassion:[3] Ruth therefore was brought by the Pilgrims to English-speaking North America where overall the name has been more popular than in the British Isles, although the name Ruth has been markedly more popular in Ireland than in Britain.

Ranked at No. 46 on the 1890 tally of the most popular names for American newborn girls, the name Ruth showed a sharp increase in popularity on the respective 1891 tally with a ranking at No. 19 while the tallies for the years 1892 and 1893 ranked the popularity of the name Ruth at respectively No. 5 and No. 3. The impetus for the boost in the popularity of the name Ruth was the 3 October 1891 birth of Ruth Cleveland daughter of (then former) US president Grover Cleveland and his wife Frances Cleveland, the latter herself a celebrity due to her 2 June 1886 marriage – she remains the youngest first lady and the only one wed at the White House – after which she had proven a very popular first lady. Although Grover Cleveland lost the 1888 presidential election to Benjamin Harrison the victor proved very unpopular, and by 1891 the American public overwhelmingly regarded the return to presidential office of Grover Cleveland – and therefore Frances' return as first lady – as being inevitable (Grover Cleveland was indeed re-elected president in an 1892 landslide victory). The birth of the Clevelands' first child, Ruth, therefore ranked as front-page news, with press mentions of "Baby Ruth" occurring regularly throughout Ruth Cleveland's infancy and toddler period.[4]

The name Ruth retained a Top Ten ranking in the yearly tallies of the most popular names for American newborn girls until after 1930, remaining in the Top 20 until after 1937 and in the Top 50 until after 1950. Typically for traditional one-syllable girls names, the popularity of the name Ruth for American newborns has decreased since the mid-20th century with the name last ranking in the Top 100 in 1961, being then at No. 96. The tally of most popular names for newborn American girls for the year 2014 ranks the name Ruth at No. 314.[2]

## Variants

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* Hirut (Amharic)
* Luka (Hawaiian)
* Ruth (English, Indonesian, Spanish)
* Rue (English)
* Rufa (Russian)
* Rút (Czech, Irish Gaelic)
* Rut (Afrikaans, German, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Maltese, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Turkish)
* Rūta (Latvian, Lithuanian)
* Ruta (Polish, Ukrainian)
* Rute (Portuguese)
* Ruthanne (English)
* Ruthella (English)
* Rutherine (English)
* Ruthi (English, Hebrew)
* Ruthia (English)
* Ruthie (English)
* Ruthina (English)
* Ruthine (English)
* Ruthven (Scots)
* Ruti (Hebrew)
* Rutu (Yoruba)
* Ruut (Finnish, Estonian)
* Ruth/Ruthie (English)
* Tuti (Hebrew)

## People with the given name

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* Ruth Abeles (born 1942), Israeli Olympic gymnast
* Ruth Adler (1944–1994), human rights and child welfare advocate
* Ruth Amos (born 1989), British entrepreneur and inventor
* Ruth Anderson (disambiguation), several people
* Ruth Asawa (1926–2013), American sculptor and arts education advocate
* Ruth Aspöck (born 1947), Austrian writer
* Ruth Baldacchino (born 1979), LGBTQIA activist
* Ruth Becher (born 1956), Austrian politician
* Ruth Benedict (1887-1948), American anthropologist
* Ruth L. Bennett (1866–1947), American social reformer
* Ruth Blum (1913–1976), Swiss writer and journalist
* Ruthie Blum, American–Israeli journalist
* Ruthie Bolton (born 1967), former professional basketball player
* Ruth Brown (1928–2006), American singer-songwriter
* Ruth Codd (born 1996), Irish actress and former TikToker
* Ruth Coker Burks (born 1959), American HIV activist
* Ruth Buscombe (born 1989), British strategy engineer
* Ruth Buzzi (born 1936), American comedian and entertainer
* Ruth Chatterton (1892–1961), American actress
* Ruth Clayton (1925–2003), British medical researcher
* Ruthie Cohen (1930–2008), American character actress
* Ruth Cracknell (1925–2002), Australian comic actress and author
* Ruth Davidson (born 1978), Scottish politician
* Ruth Dreifuss (born 1940), Swiss politician
* Ruth Drexel (1930-2009), German actress
* Ruth Dyson (keyboardist) (1917–1997), English keyboardist
* Ruth Firmenich (born 1964), German politician
* Ruth Fischer (1895–1961), Austrian politician
* Ruth Forsling (1923–1985), Swedish activist and politician
* Ruthie Foster (born 1964), American singer/songwriter of blues and folk music
* Ruth Fremson, American photographer and journalist
* Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020), American Supreme Court Justice
* Ruth Goodman (born 1963), American romance writer, writing under the name Meagan McKinney
* Ruth Goodman (historian), British historian & TV presenter
* Ruth Gordon (1896–1985), American actress, screenwriter, and playwright
* Ruth Gotlieb (1923–2019), local politician in Wellington, New Zealand
* Ruth Gruber (1911-2016), American journalist, photographer, writer, humanitarian, and United States government official
* Ruth Großmaß, German professor of social philosophy and ethics
* Ruth Gustafson (1881–1960), Swedish social democrat
* Ruth Hale (disambiguation), several people
* Ruth Hall (disambiguation), several people
* Ruth Hamblin (born 1994), Canadian basketball player
* Ruth Handler (1916-2002), American businesswoman and inventor
* Ruthie Henshall (born 1967), English singer, dancer, and actress
* Ruth Hieronymi (born 1947), German politician
* Ruth Bradley Holmes (1924–2021), American linguist, educator, and polyglot
* Ruth Holzhausen (born 1959), West German volleyball player
* Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1927–2013), British novelist
* Ruth Jones (actress), Welsh actress, novelist, and screenwriter
* Ruth Jones (politician), British politician
* Ruth Kaarlela (1919–2018), American professor, social worker
* Ruth Kelly (born 1968), British politician
* Ruth Kempson (born 1944), British linguist
* Ruth Langer (swimmer) (1921–1999), Austrian swimmer
* Ruth Langsford (born 1960), British television presenter
* Ruth Leuwerik (1924–2016), German actress
* Ruth Lewis (1946–2020), Pakistani Roman Catholic nun
* Ruth Grace Moulon (1934-2008), American personality, better known as Ruthie the Duck Girl
* Ruth Herbert Lewis (1871–1946), British philanthropist
* Ruth Lorenzo (born 1982), Spanish singer
* Ruth B. Loving (1914–2014), American activist
* Ruth Lüthi (born 1947), Swiss academic and politician
* Ruth Mackenzie, British artistic director
* Ruth Macrides (1949–2019), American and British scholar
* Ruth Madeley (born 1987), British actress
* Ruth Madoc (1943–2022), British actress and singer
* Ruth Madoff (born 1941), American wife of Bernie Madoff
* Ruth Lor Malloy (born 1932), Canadian activist and travel writer
* Ruth Mastenbroek, British perfumer
* Ruthie Matthes (born 1965), American professional bicycle racer
* Ruth McCabe (fl. 1970's-), Irish actress
* Ruth Hanna McCormick (1880–1944), American politician
* Ruth Gowdy McKinley (1931–1981), American-born Canadian ceramic artist
* Ruth Messenger (1884–1964), American historian
* Ruth Millikan (born 1933), American philosopher
* Ruth Mompati (1925–2015), South African politician
* Ruth Sylvie Morel (born 1956), Canadian wheelchair fencer
* Ruthie Morris (born 1964), guitarist for the American rock group Magnapop
* Ruth Myers (disambiguation), several people
* Ruth Negga (born 1981), Ethiopian-Irish actress
* Ruth Nortje (born 1967), South African–American canoeist
* Ruth Peetoom (born 1967), Dutch Christian minister and politician
* Ruth Pointer, American singer of the Pointer Sisters
* Ruth Qaulluaryuk (born 1932), Canadian Inuit textile artist
* Ruth Reinke Whitney (1928–1999), American magazine editor
* Ruth Rendell, British crime fiction writer
* Ruth Righi (born 2005), American actress and singer
* Ruth Roman, American actress
* Ruth Sagall, Polish-born Israeli actress
* Ruth Seymour (1935–2023), American broadcasting executive
* Ruth Hinshaw Spray (1848–1929), American peace activist
* Ruth Stage, British artist
* Ruth Carter Stapleton, American Christian author and sister of US President Jimmy Carter
* Ruth Terry (1920–2016), American singer and actress
* Ruth Marie Terry (1936–1974), American murder victim
* Ruth Thomas (disambiguation), several people
* Ruthie Tompson, American animator
* Ruth Waymire (1960–1984), American murder victim
* Ruth Weckenmann (born 1959), German politician
* Ruth Westheimer (born Karola Siegel, 1928; known as "Dr. Ruth"), German-American sex therapist, talk show host
* Ruth Wilkinson
* Ruth Wills (1826–1908), English poet
* Ruth Wilson, English actress
* Ruth Wilson, English missing person
* Ruth Yeoh, Malaysian environmentalist and businesswoman
* Ruth Zernova (1919–2004), Soviet-born Israeli author and translator

## Fictional characters

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* Ruth, a character in the 1971 American comedy-drama B.S. I Love You
* Ruth, a character in the 1992 TV comedy Revenge of the Nerds III
* Ruth (dragon), dragon in Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern novels
* Ruth Brenner, a therapist in Russian Doll (TV series)
* Ruth DeWitt Bukater, an antagonist in Titanic (1997 film)
* Ruthie Camden, on 7th Heaven, the WB/CW (1996–2007) family drama
* Ruth Dunbar, a character in the American television sitcom Bosom Buddies
* Ruth Galloway, archaeologist and protagonist of a series of novels by Elly Griffiths
* Ruth Gogan, a character from Stephen King's Carrie
* Ruth Hilton, central character in 1853 novel Ruth (novel)
* Ruth Jamison, in Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, portrayed in the 1991 film adaptation by Mary-Louise Parker
* Ruthie Lombard, six year old protagonist of the One Big Happy daily comic strip
* Ruth Pearce, from the British soap opera Doctors, portrayed by Selina Chilton
* Ruth Shandling, a character in the American sitcom It's Garry Shandling's Show
* Ruth "Rudi" Smith, from the British sitcom Gavin & Stacey, portrayed by Sheridan Smith
* Ruth Ann "Ruthie" Smithens, in American Girl's Kit Kittredge series
* Ruth Fleming, from Nerdy Prudes Must Die by Team Starkid, portrayed by Lauren Lopez

## Notes

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1. ^ Isaac Slobin, Dan (1985). The Crosslinguistic Study of Language Acquisition. Psychology Press. p. 342\. ISBN 9780898593679.
2. ^ a b "Ruth". Behind the Name. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
3. ^ Cobham Brewer, Ebenezer (1997). Adrian Room (ed.). Brewer's Dictionary of Names. Abingdon OXON: Helicon Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1859862322.
4. ^ Algeo, Matthew (2011). The President Is a Sick Man: wherein the supposedly virtuous Grover Cleveland survives a secret surgery at sea and vilifies the courageous newspaperman who dared expose the truth. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. pp. 50, 172. ISBN 978-1-56976-350-6.

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