Ruban
A name of Indian origin meaning "ribbon" or "strip".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Ruban. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ruban today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ruban births was 1979 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ruban. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ruban with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ruban. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1979
6 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
1990 SSA rank
#9,242
Tracked since 1979
Census
Ruban in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 340 people with the first name Ruban, which placed it at #27,081 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#27,081
National first-name rank
People counted
340
340 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
67.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ruban
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ruban is Hispanic at 67.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.1%) and White (8.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ruban described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ruban at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino67.1% · 228
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.1% · 41
- White8.8% · 30
- Black or African American8.5% · 29
- Two or more races2.4% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 4
Popularity
Ruban: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ruban from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 6 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
Ruban 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 Ruban 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 Ruban
The given name Ruban has its origins in the Persian language, derived from the word 'rubaan', meaning 'ribbon' or 'sash'. It is believed to have first emerged during the reign of the Sasanian Empire in ancient Persia, which spanned from the 3rd to the 7th century CE.
Ruban was a popular name among the nobility and aristocracy of the Sasanian Empire, often associated with individuals who held prestigious positions or were renowned for their artistic or literary achievements. The name's connection to ribbons and sashes is thought to symbolize elegance, grace, and refinement.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ruban can be found in the poetry of the celebrated Persian poet Ferdowsi, who lived from 940 to 1020 CE. In his epic masterpiece, the Shahnameh, Ferdowsi makes reference to a character named Ruban, though the details of this individual's life and deeds are not extensively documented.
In the 12th century, a renowned Persian philosopher and scholar named Ruban al-Din Suhrawardi was born in Suhraward, a village in northwestern Iran. He was a prominent figure in the philosophical movement known as Illuminationism and wrote extensively on metaphysics, cosmology, and the nature of existence.
During the Timurid Dynasty, which ruled over parts of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia from the 14th to the 16th century, the name Ruban gained further prominence. One notable figure from this period was Ruban Beg, a skilled military commander who served under the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh.
In the realm of art and literature, one cannot overlook the contributions of the 17th century Persian poet and calligrapher, Ruban Ali Beg. His works, which included both poetry and exquisite calligraphic pieces, were highly acclaimed and remain influential in the Persian artistic tradition to this day.
Another prominent individual bearing the name Ruban was Ruban Dastur, a Zoroastrian priest and scholar who lived in the 18th century. He was renowned for his extensive knowledge of the Avestan language and his efforts in preserving and promoting the teachings of the Zoroastrian faith.
While the name Ruban has its roots in Persian culture, it has also been adopted and used in various other regions and contexts over the centuries, reflecting the widespread influence and cultural exchange that occurred throughout the ancient world.
People
Ruban + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ruban 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
Ruban: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ruban?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ruban 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Ruban a common name?
We classify Ruban as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ruban most popular?
The single biggest year for Ruban was 1979, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ruban is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ruban in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 340 people with the name Ruban, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,081 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ruban in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ruban?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ruban leans strongly male. 341 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 6 female bearers (1.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ruban?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ruban is Hispanic at 67.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.1%) and White (8.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ruban most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ruban in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.1% (228 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ruban in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ruban a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ruban 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.
Is Ruban still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ruban in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ruban can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people have the name Ruban?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.