Ruthann
A feminine name derived from Ruth, meaning "friend" or "compassionate".
Name Census estimates that about 4,341 living Americans carry the first name Ruthann. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ruthann today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ruthann births was 1943 (258 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ruthann. 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
4.3K
~ 1 in 78,957 Americans
Peak year
1943
258 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,624
Tracked since 1906
Census
Ruthann in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,334 people with the first name Ruthann, which placed it at #2,576 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
#2,576
National first-name rank
People counted
9.3K
9,334 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ruthann
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ruthann is White at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Black (3.5%) and Hispanic (2.2%). 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 Ruthann 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 Ruthann at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.5% · 8,449
- Black or African American3.5% · 328
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 209
- Two or more races1.9% · 179
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 113
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 56
Popularity
Ruthann: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ruthann from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 2,190 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ruthann 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 Ruthann during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ruthanns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York recorded the most babies named Ruthann, while Texas, Colorado, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 242 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ruthann
The name Ruthann is a combination of the names Ruth and Ann. Ruth is a Hebrew name derived from the biblical Book of Ruth, a story of loyalty and devotion. It is thought to mean "friend" or "companion." The name Ann, on the other hand, has its origins in the Hebrew name Hannah, meaning "grace" or "favor."
The earliest recorded use of the name Ruthann dates back to the late 19th century in the United States. It gained popularity in the early 20th century, particularly in the 1920s and 1930s. One of the earliest notable bearers of the name was Ruthann Knudson (1896-1991), an American actress and vaudeville performer who appeared in several Broadway productions during the 1920s and 1930s.
Another notable Ruthann was Ruthann Stevenson (1920-2007), an American painter and sculptor who was a member of the Woodstock Artists Association and exhibited her work extensively throughout the United States. She was known for her abstract expressionist paintings and sculptural works.
In the realm of literature, Ruthann Richter (1938-2021) was an American novelist and short story writer. Her works explored themes of family, identity, and the complexities of human relationships. She published several novels, including "The Sea Beach Line" and "A View from the Inland Waterway."
The name Ruthann has also been associated with notable figures in the field of education. Ruthann Knechel Johansen (1926-2016) was an American educator and author who served as the president of Barnard College from 1975 to 1986. She advocated for women's education and worked to promote diversity and inclusion on college campuses.
Lastly, Ruthann Robson (born 1942) is an American legal scholar and professor of law at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law. She is a prominent figure in the fields of feminist legal theory, LGBTQ+ rights, and constitutional law, and has published numerous books and articles on these topics.
While the name Ruthann may not be as common today as it once was, it carries a rich history and has been borne by notable figures across various fields, from the arts and literature to education and law.
People
Ruthann + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ruthann 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
Ruthann: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ruthann?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,341 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ruthann 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 78,957 US residents.
Is Ruthann a common name?
We classify Ruthann as "Rare". It ranks above 96.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,071 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ruthann most popular?
The single biggest year for Ruthann was 1943, when 258 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ruthann is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ruthann in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,334 people with the name Ruthann, or 3.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,576 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 Ruthann 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 Ruthann?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ruthann appears almost entirely female. Of the 9,335 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Ruthann?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ruthann is White at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Black (3.5%) and Hispanic (2.2%). 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 Ruthann most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ruthann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.5% (8,449 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 Ruthann in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ruthann a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ruthann 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 Ruthann still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ruthann 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 Ruthann 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 Ruthann?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.