Rubbie
Possibly a derivative of Ruby, a feminine name of Latin origin meaning "red gem".
Name Census estimates that about 152 living Americans carry the first name Rubbie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rubbie today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rubbie births was 1923 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rubbie. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Rubbie is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Rubbies were born before 1957.
People living today
152
~ 1 in 2,254,963 Americans
Peak year
1923
31 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1963 SSA rank
#7,424
Tracked since 1909
Census
Rubbie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 205 people with the first name Rubbie, which placed it at #37,817 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
#37,817
National first-name rank
People counted
205
205 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
79.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rubbie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rubbie is Black at 79.0%. The next largest groups are White (10.2%) and Hispanic (7.3%). 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 Rubbie 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 Rubbie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American79.0% · 162
- White10.2% · 21
- Hispanic or Latino7.3% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 3
- Two or more races1.5% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Rubbie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rubbie from the 1900s through to the 1960s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 219 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rubbie 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 Rubbie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rubbies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas recorded the most babies named Rubbie, while Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rubbie
The given name Rubbie is believed to have originated from the Old English word "rubby," which means "ruby-colored." This name likely first appeared in England during the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century. It was initially used as a descriptive name for individuals with reddish hair or a ruddy complexion.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rubbie can be found in the Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 14th century. In the tale "The Reeve's Tale," a character named Rubbie is mentioned, although not much is known about the specific details of this individual.
During the Renaissance period, the name Rubbie gained some popularity among the English aristocracy. One notable figure was Rubbie Fitzwilliam, a courtier and diplomat who served under King Henry VIII in the early 16th century. Fitzwilliam was born in 1495 and played a significant role in negotiating treaties between England and other European powers.
In the 17th century, the name Rubbie appears in several historical records, including parish registers and court documents. One such individual was Rubbie Cromwell, a distant relative of Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England during the Commonwealth era. Rubbie Cromwell was born in 1623 and served as a captain in the Parliamentarian forces during the English Civil War.
Another notable figure was Rubbie Pepys, a merchant and diarist who lived in London during the latter half of the 17th century. Pepys kept a detailed diary that provided valuable insights into the daily life and events of that era. He was born in 1660 and passed away in 1703.
In the 18th century, the name Rubbie became less common, but it was still found among certain families in England and Scotland. One noteworthy individual was Rubbie Hume, a Scottish philosopher and historian who was born in 1711. Hume is renowned for his contributions to empiricism and his influential works, such as "A Treatise of Human Nature" and "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding."
As the centuries progressed, the name Rubbie continued to appear sporadically in various historical records, although it gradually fell out of widespread use. Nevertheless, it remains a unique and intriguing name with a rich linguistic and cultural heritage.
People
Rubbie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rubbie 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
Rubbie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rubbie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 152 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rubbie 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 2,254,963 US residents.
Is Rubbie a common name?
We classify Rubbie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 682 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rubbie most popular?
The single biggest year for Rubbie was 1923, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rubbie is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rubbie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 205 people with the name Rubbie, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,817 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 Rubbie 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 Rubbie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rubbie leans strongly female. 191 people counted with this name were female (94.1%), compared with 12 male bearers (5.9%). 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 Rubbie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rubbie is Black at 79.0%. The next largest groups are White (10.2%) and Hispanic (7.3%). 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 Rubbie most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rubbie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.0% (162 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 Rubbie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rubbie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rubbie in the SSA data are female. 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 Rubbie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rubbie 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 Rubbie 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 share the name Rubbie?
Want to know how many Americans are named Rubbie? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.