Rue
Torn between Rue and another name? Compare them side by side →
Meaning
from the name of the bitter medicinal herb, a word that goes back to Greek rhyte, and sometimes a short form of Ruth
How popular is Rue around the world?
In the United States, 990 babies were named Rue between 2020 and 2025. In Scotland, 10 girls named Rue were registered in 2024, the 333rd most common name among girls that year.
Rue is on the official records of the United States, Scotland, England and Wales, Ireland and Canada.
United States
1 in 22,000
In the United States, 990 babies were named Rue between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Rue peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Scotland
1 in 4,600
In Scotland, 10 girls named Rue were registered in 2024, the 333rd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 8,600
In England and Wales, 50 girls named Rue were born in 2025, the 733rd most common name among girls that year.
In England and Wales, 18 boys named Rue were born in 2025, ranked 1,466th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Ireland
1 in 14,000
In Ireland, 4 girls named Rue were born in 2025, the 718th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Canada
1 in 28,000
In Canada, 13 girls named Rue were born in 2024, ranked 1,709th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Not on 12 other recordsWhy
- Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, New Zealand and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
- Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown.
- Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years.
- Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown.
- Not on the South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years.
- Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only).
- Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Rue
Most people given the name Rue in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Rue deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Rue truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Rue fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Rue fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Rue to your family’s tree →