Ruth

How to say it

/ruːθ/

What it means

Hebrew Rut, traditionally 'friend' or 'companion.' The Moabite woman who said 'whither thou goest, I will go' to her mother-in-law Naomi; her story is one of the Bible's central narratives of loyalty across difference.

Ruth comes from the Hebrew Rut, traditionally read as 'friend' or 'companion.' The Book of Ruth is one of two Old Testament books named for a woman; Ruth was a Moabite (non-Israelite) who chose to follow her widowed Israelite mother-in-law Naomi back to Bethlehem, leading to her great-grandson King David. The story is read every year at the Jewish feast of Shavuot. Ruth Bader Ginsburg (the second woman on the US Supreme Court, 1933-2020) gave the name decisive 21st-century anchor. The English Ruth peaked in the early 20th century and has been climbing again since 2010 with the broader Old Testament revival.

Heads-up notes

• Pop culture

  Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) is the dominant modern English-language anchor; the biblical Ruth is the older and deeper reference.

Who's worn it

Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.

• Ruth (Bible) Moabite woman, great-grandmother of King David; her story is the Book of Ruth
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg US Supreme Court Justice 1993-2020, women's-rights advocate
• Babe Ruth American baseball player George Herman Ruth, 1895-1948 (Ruth as surname)

Spelling variants

• Rut
• Ruthie

Names with the same feeling

• Naomi Pleasant, my delight
• Esther Star
• Sarah Princess, noblewoman
• Anna Favor, grace
• Rose Rose flower

See Ruth from another angle