Ruby is a name of English origin and comes from the Latin word ‘ruber’ which means ‘red’. The red variety of the mineral corundum is called ruby, it is considered one of the four precious stones, along with sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds.
Ruby is a female first name. In very rare cases it is also used for boys.
The first name Ruby is one of the top 100 most popular girls names in the US – currently at #72 in our SmartGenius ranking. Over 1,000 babies each year are named Ruby, accounting for approximately 0.20 % of all newborn girls. In the entire USA, approximately 334,218 people – children, adults and seniors – currently bear the name Ruby. That is 0.10 % of all living Americans.
Ruby is a name of English origin and comes from the Latin word ‘ruber’ which means ‘red’. The red variety of the mineral corundum is called ruby, it is considered one of the four precious stones, along with sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds.
While the name Ruby... doesn't have a specific meaning, it is often associated with the idea of beauty, luxury, and wealth due to rubies.
Ruby Dee (1922 - 2014)
The American actress, playwright, screenwriter, poet, and civil rights activist Ruby Dee started her career in the 1940s and in the following decades starred in many films, including 'A Raisin in the Sun' (1961) and 'Do the Right Thing' (1989). Dee was also a prominent activist, working alongside her husband, Ossie Davis, to advance the cause of civil rights and social justice.
Ruby Bridges (*1954)
At the age of six Ruby Bridges became the first African-American child to attend an all-white elementary school in Lousiana - six years after the court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education declared the segregation of schools to be unconstitutional. During her lifetime she had to face extreme racism and harassment, but persevered and finally paved the way for greater integration in American schools. Bridges continues to be an advocate for racial equality and social justice.
Ruby Keeler (1909 - 1993)
The actress Ethel Ruby Keeler started her career on Broadway in the 1930s, establishing herself not only as talented actress, but as a dancer and a singer as well. She appeared in several popular musical films in the 1930s, including '42nd Street' (1933), 'Footlight Parade' (1933), and 'Dames' (1934). Her performances were known for their energy and athleticism, and she became one of the most famous stars of the early Hollywood musical era.
Ruby Rose (*1986)
Ruby Rose Langenheim started modeling in her teenage years. She transitioned to television by presenting on MTV Australia (20072011). Her TV career was followd by several high-profile modelling gigs, including Maybelline New York in Australia. She gained wider recognition for her role in season three of the Netflix series "Orange Is the New Black" (2015 2016). She has since appeared in several other films and television shows. In addition to her acting career, she campaigns on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community and supports various charitable causes.
When you hear the name Ruby, you might first think of a woman or a girl. But did you know that there are also places with the name Ruby? Are you also called Ruby? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...
inside Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, you can visit Ruby Falls a series of underground cascading waterfalls.
and view the Destruction Island Lighthouse at Ruby Beach. You can find it in the coastal section of Olympic National Park in the state of Washington.
in Ruby Canyon. It is a roughly 25 mile long canyon on the Colorado River. The canyon is named for the red sandstone cliffs surrounding it.
in the U.S. is called Ruby Dome. It is located within the Ruby Mountains Ranger District which is close to the city of Elko in Nevada.
of the Shoshone nation used Ruby Valley as a winter home. It is a large basin located in south-central Elko, Nevada, and borders the Ruby Mountains to its west.
from Washington to South Carolina bear the name Ruby towns, unincorporated communites, settlements, and even ghost towns.
Appearing throughout the time in the United States, the name Ruby is a staple in the country: Girls have been given the name Ruby for more than 140 years, according to official U.S. naming statistics. Ruby is therefore one of only 432 girls’ names that have been given every year since 1880. Even beyond that, Ruby is a very special name that peaked in popularity some time ago in the 20th century. Placed 22 Ruby easily made it into the Top 100 of our SmartGenius stats for female first names and has never been more popular than back in 1911.
In years where the graph has no value, the name Ruby was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.
As many as 3,611 babies were named Ruby in the USA in 2022, ranking it #61 on the list of the most popular girls' names for that year. However, it experienced its lowest point of popularity in 1986, when it was only ranked at #384 of all female names in our SmartGenius statistics – back then only 567 girls were named Ruby.
There are only 537 different women’s names registered in every single state in the U.S., and Ruby is one of them. However, Ruby is not equally widespread in all states, but people in Arkansas seem to particularly fancy this name – the 12,177 women called Ruby who live here are 0,745% of all female residents and push their name up to #11, easily placing it in the top 100 most common female names in Arkansas.
Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter R is neither particularly common nor particularly rare as a first letter for girls' names: 4.1% of all common girls' names in the US begin with this letter. The most common first letters of girls' names are A and S, while X and U are the least common initials of girls' names.
With four letters, the name Ruby is shorter than most other given names. In fact, only 5.5% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly four letters. Just 1.2% of all first names are even shorter, while 93% consist of more than four letters. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.
Thus, it follows that if 4.1% of all girls' names start with an R, this initial letter occurs about as often as all 26 letters on average. And maybe interesting to know: Rebecca is the girls’ name starting with R, which is the most common of all.
If your name is Ruby and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...
So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Ruby, you can simply say:
Rocket
Unicorn
Butterfly
Yoyo
Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.
Ruby
Ruby
Just use American Sign Language!
These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.
R
U
B
Y
In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.
R
U
B
Y
In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Ruby sounds like this:
