The story in the numbers

372,975 girls have been named Ruby in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1924, with 8,406 births — 0.67% of all girls recorded that year.

This is a comeback. After an early peak the name fell to a fraction of its former share, and it has been climbing again for the past decade.

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1933, and the 1920s alone account for 21%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 70 of them in the top 100.

It is overwhelmingly a girl’s name: 3,099 boys have also been given it, 0.82% of the total.

Rank among girls, year by year

By decade

Decade

girls named Ruby

2,603

8,699

18,175

60,308

76,737

47,647

31,873

20,549

10,165

6,433

6,312

10,556

22,030

33,461

17,427

In 1924, its biggest year

Ruby was the 26th most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1924 were Mary, Dorothy, Helen, Betty and Margaret. See all of 1924.

Names that rose and fell with Ruby

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.