Girls' name · peaked in 1911
Ruby name popularity since 1925
247,415 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Ruby (99.2% girls, 0.8% boys). Half of them were born in 1953 or earlier, so the typical Ruby is about 73 years old in 2026. Ruby peaked in 1911 as the #22 name for girls, and it ranked #64 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 247,415
- Named Ruby, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1911
- #22 for girls that year
- In 2025
- #64
- for girls in 2025 (3,554 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 99.2% girls
- 245,475 girls · 1,940 boys
- Most popular in
- Mississippi
- 3.33× its national share
Peak year is the year Ruby made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Ruby births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Ruby peaked earlier, in 1911.
- Steepest fall: Between 1963 and 1968, Ruby's share of baby girls fell by 46%, from 1 in 1,390 to 1 in 2,570.
- Fastest rise: Between 2000 and 2005, it became 1.9× more common, from 1 in 1,430 baby girls to 1 in 748.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Ruby's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Ruby.
Decade by decade
Babies named Ruby in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 35,428 | 322 | – |
| 1930s | 47,648 | 523 | #41 |
| 1940s | 31,872 | 268 | #95 |
| 1950s | 20,550 | 153 | #173 |
| 1960s | 10,164 | 113 | #276 |
| 1970s | 6,433 | 86 | #346 |
| 1980s | 6,312 | 139 | #384 |
| 1990s | 10,556 | 137 | #260 |
| 2000s | 22,032 | 54 | #130 |
| 2010s | 33,467 | 56 | #83 |
| 2020–25 | 21,013 | 89 | #64 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
33.0% of babies named Ruby from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Ruby is most popular
The index compares Ruby's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Ruby.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 3.33× | 9,951 |
| Arkansas | 2.96× | 7,489 |
| Alabama | 2.44× | 10,639 |
| Kentucky | 2.20× | 9,083 |
| South Carolina | 2.04× | 7,040 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Ruby and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Ruby (this page) | 245,475 | 1911 |
| Rubi | 9,051 | 2005 |
| Rubie | 3,102 | 1909 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Ruby's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Ruby.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Ruby (1911).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data