Recorded 1896–2025 · United States
Rue was most popular in 2024, when 205 American babies were given the name — ranking #2,205 that year. In 2025 it ranked #2,378, with 179 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 1,884 people named Rue.
Rue first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1896, which makes it about 129 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 68 of the 130 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 1,884 American births named Rue between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 1,464 are estimated to be alive today.
179 American babies were named Rue in 2025, ranking #2,378 that year.
Rue is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 183 births a year, against 27 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +567% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Rue is mostly a girl’s name — 83.1% of the 1,884 Americans given it were girls and 16.9% were boys. It changed hands: since 2012 it has gone mainly to girls, having gone mainly to boys before that. In births since 2016 it is 93% girls and 7% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 1,464 Americans named Rue are alive today — 78% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 4 years old, and half are between 2 and 9. That is a narrow band because Rue is a young name — it only became common recently, so almost everyone carrying it is still a child or a young adult.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Rue on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org