Meaning of the nameRuth

Ruth is a biblical female name of Hebrew origin, of uncertain meaning, possibly 'companion' or 'friend'; in Portuguese the usual form is Rute.

Meaning

“possibly 'companion' or 'friend'”

Source: Wiktionary: Ruth · Behind the Name: Ruth

People (2022): 47,773
Rank in Brazil: #584
Median age: 46 years
2010 Census: 45,062; people

Ruth in the 2022 Census

People with the first name Ruth, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1960s (7,107 people).

47,509 women 264 men

Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.

Where the name Ruth is most common

States with the highest share of people named Ruth in the population, in the 2022 Census.

Amazonas 0.047%
Pará 0.044%
Roraima 0.044%
Rio de Janeiro 0.037%
Amapá 0.034%

All states

State	People	% of population
São Paulo	10,881	0.025%
Rio de Janeiro	5,959	0.037%
Minas Gerais	4,092	0.020%
Pará	3,582	0.044%
Bahia	2,085	0.015%
Ceará	2,056	0.023%
Paraná	1,952	0.017%
Amazonas	1,842	0.047%
Goiás	1,587	0.023%
Pernambuco	1,513	0.017%
Rio Grande do Sul	1,492	0.014%
Santa Catarina	1,482	0.020%
Maranhão	1,388	0.021%
Espírito Santo	1,024	0.027%
Paraíba	942	0.024%
Rio Grande do Norte	883	0.027%
Distrito Federal	880	0.031%
Mato Grosso	679	0.019%
Mato Grosso do Sul	678	0.025%
Alagoas	548	0.018%
Piauí	544	0.017%
Tocantins	367	0.024%
Sergipe	323	0.015%
Rondônia	322	0.020%
Roraima	278	0.044%
Amapá	248	0.034%
Acre	146	0.018%

States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.

About the name Ruth

Wiktionary gives Ruth as coming from the Hebrew רות, of uncertain origin, possibly 'companion'. Behind the Name says the name probably comes from the Hebrew reʿut, 'friend'. It is the name of the protagonist of the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament. Wiktionary gives Rute as the Portuguese form, and the Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil (Dictionary of Names in Use in Brazil) lists Ruthe and Rhute among the spelling variants of Rute. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 47,773 people named Ruth, with a median age of 46, almost always women; proportionally, the name is most common in Amazonas.

Sources

Wiktionary: Ruth · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
Behind the Name: Ruth · behindthename.com · meaning
Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Rute · dicionariodenomesdobrasil.com.br · spelling

Questions about the name Ruth

What does the name Ruth mean?

Ruth means “possibly 'companion' or 'friend'”, according to Wiktionary and Behind the Name.

How many people are named Ruth in Brazil?

IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 47,773 people with the first name Ruth, which ranks it number 584 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1960s.

Is Ruth a boy's or a girl's name?

Ruth is a female name: in the 2022 Census, 47,509 women and 264 men had this name.

What is the origin of the name Ruth?

Ruth is a name of Hebrew origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.

In which Brazilian state is Ruth most common?

Proportionally, in Amazonas: 0.047% of the state's population is named Ruth (1,842 people), according to the 2022 Census.

More names of Hebrew origin

See all

Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Ruth with a source. See the methodology.