Ruther
A feminine given name of German origin meaning "maiden of glory".
Name Census estimates that about 120 living Americans carry the first name Ruther. It is a predominantly female name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Ruther today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ruther births was 1926 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ruther. 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 Ruther is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ruthers were born before 1956.
People living today
120
~ 1 in 2,856,286 Americans
Peak year
1926
28 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1925 SSA rank
#4,120
Tracked since 1910
Census
Ruther in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 144 people with the first name Ruther, which placed it at #46,371 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
#46,371
National first-name rank
People counted
144
144 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ruther
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ruther is Black at 78.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.8%) and White (6.3%). 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 Ruther 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 Ruther at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.5% · 113
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.8% · 17
- White6.3% · 9
- Two or more races2.8% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Ruther
Out of the 607 babies given the name Ruther since 1880, 99.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Ruther as a male name
- Ranked #4,120 in 1925
- 6 male births in 1925
- Peak: 1925 (6 births)
Ruther as a female name
- Ranked #7,600 in 1964
- 5 female births in 1964
- Peak: 1926 (28 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ruther on both sides of the split. Of the 146 people counted with this name, 43 were male (29.5%) and 103 were female (70.5%).
Popularity
Ruther: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ruther from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 213 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
Ruther 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 Ruther during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ruthers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Mississippi, South Carolina, Georgia recorded the most babies named Ruther, while North Carolina, Alabama, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ruther
The given name Ruther originates from the Old German language, with roots tracing back to the 8th century. Its linguistic origins can be found in the Proto-Germanic word "hrōþiz," which means "renowned" or "famous." This name was particularly popular among the Germanic tribes that inhabited regions of modern-day Germany and the Netherlands.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ruther can be found in the Hildebrandslied, an Old High German heroic poem dating back to the 9th century. The poem mentions a character named Ruther, who is celebrated for his bravery and valor in battle.
During the Middle Ages, Ruther was a relatively common name among the nobility and upper classes of Germanic societies. One notable figure bearing this name was Ruther von Aschaffenburg, a 12th-century German noble and landowner who played a pivotal role in the construction of the magnificent Aschaffenburg Castle.
In the realm of religious history, the name Ruther is associated with Saint Ruther of Trier, a 6th-century monk and scholar who is venerated in the Catholic Church. His writings on theology and philosophy were highly influential during the early medieval period.
As time progressed, the name Ruther experienced a decline in popularity but continued to appear in various historical records. One notable figure was Ruther von Birken, a 17th-century German poet and writer known for his contributions to the Baroque literary movement.
Another well-known individual with this name was Ruther Bingham, an American soldier and politician who served as a United States Senator from Michigan in the late 19th century (1859-1933).
During the 20th century, the name Ruther experienced a resurgence in certain regions, particularly in parts of Germany and the Netherlands. Notable individuals bearing this name include Ruther Hauer, a Dutch actor renowned for his roles in films like "Blade Runner" (1944-2019), and Ruther Klinsmann, a former German professional football player and manager (born 1964).
People
Ruther + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ruther 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
Ruther: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ruther?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 120 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ruther 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 2,856,286 US residents.
Is Ruther a common name?
We classify Ruther as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 607 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ruther most popular?
The single biggest year for Ruther was 1926, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ruther is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ruther in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 144 people with the name Ruther, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,371 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 Ruther 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 Ruther?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ruther on both sides of the split. Of the 146 people counted with this name, 43 were male (29.5%) and 103 were female (70.5%). 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 Ruther?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ruther is Black at 78.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.8%) and White (6.3%). 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 Ruther most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ruther in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.5% (113 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 Ruther in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ruther a female name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Ruther 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 Ruther still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ruther 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 Ruther 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 common is the name Ruther?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.