Fun Facts About the Name Rue
- More than 1 thousand babies named Rue: U.S. records list 1,883 babies given the name Rue from 1880 through 2025. Even 319 boys received the name Rue - about 1 boy for every 5 girls.
What Does the Name Rue Mean?
Rue is an English given name drawn from ordinary vocabulary, and it rests on two separate words that happen to be spelled alike. The first is the name of the herb Ruta graveolens, called rue or herb of grace in English. That plant name was borrowed from Latin ruta, which came from Greek rhytē (ῥυτή). The further origin of the Greek word is not settled. The second source is the native English noun rue, meaning "sorrow, regret, repentance," from Old English hrēow and related to German Reue. These two words are unrelated in origin despite their identical modern spelling, so the name can carry either sense depending on which word a family has in mind. Rue is also widely used as a short form of Ruth; in that use the name takes on whatever Ruth means, and Ruth's own Hebrew etymology is itself uncertain.
Rue Name History & Origins
The plant name is the older of the two English words. Latin ruta was taken into Old English, and rue appears in medieval English herbals and household lists as a medicinal and culinary herb. It is mentioned in the Gospel of Luke (11:42), where the Greek text has pēganon (πήγανον), and its reputation as a protection against illness and harm produced the folk name "herb of grace." Shakespeare uses that name in Hamlet, where Ophelia distributes rue and says it "may be called herb of grace o' Sundays." The sorrow word has a separate history: Old English hrēow and the verb hrēowan already expressed regret and repentance before the two spellings converged in Middle English.
Rue began to be used as a personal name in the English-speaking world as a vocabulary name, in the same way that other plant and word names were adopted, and it has been especially at home in the southern United States. In many families it has served as a short form of Ruth or as a pet form of a longer Ru- name. The actress Rue McClanahan (1934 - 2010) is a well-known bearer. Modern fiction has given the name new visibility - Rue in The Hunger Games and Rue Bennett in Euphoria - but these are literary uses of a name that was already in circulation, not its origin.
How Popular is the Name Rue?
Rue has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2024. Its best rank was #1,240 in 1896.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,324 | 169 | 0.0105% |
| 2024 | #1,241 | 188 | 0.0117% |
| 2023 | #1,259 | 183 | 0.0114% |
| 2022 | #1,294 | 183 | 0.0112% |
| 2021 | #1,747 | 118 | 0.0072% |
| 2020 | #2,493 | 70 | 0.0043% |
| 2019 | #3,709 | 41 | 0.0024% |
| 2018 | #4,335 | 33 | 0.0019% |
| 2017 | #3,539 | 44 | 0.0025% |
| 2016 | #4,144 | 36 | 0.0020% |
| 2015 | #5,096 | 27 | 0.0015% |
| 2014 | #4,534 | 32 | 0.0018% |
| 2013 | #5,118 | 27 | 0.0015% |
| 2012 | #4,582 | 32 | 0.0018% |
| 2011 | #9,047 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2010 | #12,069 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1978 | #9,448 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1971 | #9,311 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1962 | #5,207 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1961 | #7,350 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1958 | #3,890 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1957 | #6,856 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1956 | #4,111 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1955 | #5,712 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1954 | #3,460 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1953 | #4,527 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1952 | #6,264 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1951 | #5,314 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1950 | #3,911 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1949 | #4,594 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1948 | #3,557 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1947 | #5,194 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1946 | #5,569 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1944 | #4,004 | 7 | 0.0005% |
| 1943 | #4,130 | 7 | 0.0005% |
| 1942 | #3,681 | 8 | 0.0006% |
| 1941 | #3,209 | 9 | 0.0007% |
| 1940 | #4,921 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1939 | #4,841 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1938 | #3,143 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1937 | #2,432 | 13 | 0.0012% |
| 1935 | #2,705 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1933 | #4,760 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1932 | #3,522 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1931 | #4,264 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1930 | #3,616 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1929 | #3,644 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1928 | #3,129 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1927 | #4,213 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1926 | #4,243 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1925 | #2,918 | 12 | 0.0010% |
| 1924 | #4,370 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1923 | #3,319 | 10 | 0.0008% |
| 1922 | #5,666 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1920 | #3,553 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1918 | #4,735 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1917 | #2,848 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1916 | #5,042 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1915 | #2,865 | 10 | 0.0010% |
| 1912 | #2,115 | 9 | 0.0016% |
| 1903 | #1,758 | 6 | 0.0023% |
| 1900 | #1,702 | 7 | 0.0023% |
| 1896 | #1,776 | 5 | 0.0021% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #8,119 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2024 | #5,596 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2023 | #7,205 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2022 | #4,985 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 2021 | #6,600 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2020 | #11,741 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2017 | #11,935 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2014 | #11,843 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1964 | #4,511 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1957 | #3,210 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1956 | #4,380 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1953 | #3,104 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1952 | #3,061 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1951 | #3,312 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1945 | #3,273 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1943 | #3,496 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1937 | #2,452 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1934 | #2,924 | 8 | 0.0008% |
| 1933 | #2,699 | 9 | 0.0009% |
| 1932 | #2,610 | 10 | 0.0010% |
| 1931 | #3,054 | 8 | 0.0008% |
| 1930 | #3,939 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1928 | #4,081 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1927 | #2,876 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1926 | #3,650 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1924 | #3,798 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1923 | #3,760 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1922 | #2,462 | 13 | 0.0012% |
| 1920 | #3,764 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1919 | #2,489 | 12 | 0.0012% |
| 1918 | #2,373 | 13 | 0.0013% |
| 1917 | #1,973 | 16 | 0.0017% |
| 1916 | #2,702 | 10 | 0.0011% |
| 1915 | #3,344 | 7 | 0.0008% |
| 1906 | #1,387 | 5 | 0.0038% |
| 1896 | #1,240 | 5 | 0.0042% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Rue Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are a law unto itself. Your tendency is to finish whatever you start. You are tolerant and like to help humanity. You are very active. You are generally warmhearted and gives freely of your time, energy, and sympathetic understanding. You have tolerance and acceptance of the frailties of others. Universal and humanitarian in outlook. This is very compassionate name. Emergencies may raise your intuitive abilities in order to resolve conflict or situation. You become very creative under the pressure, and have quite original ideas to make the best out of it.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Rue's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Rue's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.