Ruth (given name)
| Ruth | |
|---|---|
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The Biblical Naomi entreating her daughters-in-law Ruth and Orpah in this image by William Blake based on the Book of Ruth. | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈruːθ/ ROOTH |
| Gender | female |
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Hebrew |
| Meaning | "companion" |
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Look up Ruth in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Ruth (Hebrew: רות rut, IPA: [ˈʁut]) is a common female given name, from Ruth the Moabite in the Book of Ruth, possibly from the Hebrew for "companion." In Israel, "Ruti" is a common nickname for Rut (Ruth) in the same way Bill is for William in English.[1] In the Biblical story, Ruth tells her mother-in-law, Naomi, "Whither thou goest, I will go."
Ruth ranked in the top 100 most popular names for baby girls in Ireland and Northern Ireland in the past decade. It was the 347th most popular name for baby girls in the United States in 2007 and was ranked as the 19th most common name for women and girls in the United States in the 1890 census. It was most popular there in the early 20th century, when it was among the top 10 most popular names for girls in the United States.[2]
Variants
- Hirut (Amharic)
- Routh (English)
- Rue (English)
- Rufa (Russian)
- Rút (Irish Gaelic)
- Rút (Czech)
- Rut (German), (Italian), (Maltese), (Spanish),(Swedish), (Afrikaans)
- Rūta (Lithuanian)
- Ruta (Polish), (Ukrainian)
- Rute (Portuguese)
- Ruthanne (English)
- Ruthi (Hebrew)
- Ruthi (English)
- Ruthia (English)
- Ruthie (English)
- Ruthina (English)
- Ruthine (English)
- Ruthven (Scots)
- Ruut (Finnish and Estonian)
- Tootie (English)
- Tuti (Hebrew)
- Ruti (Hebrew)
- Rut (Indonesia)
People with the given name
- Ruthie Alcaide, on the cast of The Real World: Hawaii, the eighth season of MTV's reality television series
- Ruth Anderson (disambiguation), several people
- Ruth Benedict, American anthropologist
- Ruthie Blum, American-Israeli journalist, columnist and former features editor of the Jerusalem Post
- Ruthie Bolton (born 1967), former collegiate, Olympic and professional basketball player
- Ruth Buzzi, American comedian and entertainer
- Ruthie Cohen (1930–2008), American character actress
- Ruthie Foster, American singer/songwriter of blues and folk music
- Ruth Ginsburg, American Supreme Court Justice
- Ruth Hale (disambiguation), several people
- Ruth Hall (disambiguation), several people
- Ruth Handler, American businesswoman and inventor
- Ruthie Henshall (born 1967), English singer, dancer, and actress best known for her work in musical theatre
- Ruth Hieronymi (born 1947), German politician
- Ruth Holzhausen, West German volleyball player
- Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, British novelist
- Ruth Kelly, British politician
- Ruth Langsford, British television presenter
- Ruth Lorenzo, Spanish singer
- Ruthie Matthes (born 1965), American professional bicycle racer, won the 1991 World Cross-Country Mountain Bike Championship
- Ruthie Morris, the guitarist for the Atlanta, Georgia-based rock group Magnapop
- Ruth Myers (disambiguation), several people
- Ruth Nortje, South African–American canoeist
- Ruth Peetoom (b. 1967), Dutch Christian minister and politician
- Ruth Lopes comman woman
- Ruth Rendell, British crime fiction writer
- Ruth Stage, British artist
- Ruth Thomas (disambiguation), several people
- Ruth Westheimer, American author and sex therapist
- Ruth Carter Stapleton, American Christian author and sister of US President Jimmy Carter