Ruairi
Masculine name of Irish origin meaning "red king".
Name Census estimates that about 274 living Americans carry the first name Ruairi. It is a predominantly male name (97.8% of registrations). The average person named Ruairi today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ruairi births was 2021 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ruairi. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
274
~ 1 in 1,250,928 Americans
Peak year
2021
23 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,730
Tracked since 1988
Gender
Gender distribution for Ruairi
Ruairi leans heavily male at 97.8% of total registrations, but 6 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ruairi as a male name
- Ranked #6,730 in 2024
- 13 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (21 births)
Ruairi as a female name
- Ranked #14,922 in 2021
- 6 female births in 2021
- Peak: 2021 (6 births)
Popularity
Ruairi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ruairi from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 91 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ruairi by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ruairi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ruairi
The name Ruairi is of Irish origin, derived from the Old Irish name Ruaidhrí. It is composed of two elements: the first part, "ruadh," means red or reddish-brown, referring to hair color, while the second part, "rí," means king or sovereign.
Ruairi was a popular name among the ancient Irish nobility and royalty. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in Irish annals and historical texts dating back to the 7th century AD. One notable bearer of the name was Ruairi Ua Conchobair, the last High King of Ireland, who reigned from 1166 to 1198.
In medieval times, the name Ruairi was particularly prevalent among the ruling dynasties of Connacht and Ulster. Several Irish kings and princes bore this name, including Ruairi Ua Flaithbheartaigh (d. 1036), King of Iar Connacht, and Ruairi Ua Gadhra (d. 1118), King of Sloghterra.
During the 12th and 13th centuries, the name Ruairi was also found among the ranks of the Norman-Irish nobility. One prominent figure was Ruairi de Burgh (d. 1243), a member of the powerful de Burgh family and Lord of Connaught.
Throughout Irish history, several notable figures have borne the name Ruairi. These include Ruairi Mor O'More (d. 1557), a chieftain and leader of the O'More clan during the Tudor conquest of Ireland, and Ruairi O'Donnell (1575-1608), a celebrated Gaelic lord and military leader who led a rebellion against English rule.
Other famous individuals named Ruairi include Ruairi MacSiúrtáin (1605-1670), a renowned Irish poet and scholar, and Ruairi Oge MacVarrili (d. 1718), a celebrated Irish harper and composer.
People
Ruairi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ruairi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ruairi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ruairi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 274 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ruairi going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,250,928 US residents.
Is Ruairi a common name?
We classify Ruairi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 277 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ruairi most popular?
The single biggest year for Ruairi was 2021, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ruairi is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ruairi a male name?
Yes, 97.8% of people registered as Ruairi in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.