Ruth
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name, an alternative spelling of Rut. From Vulgate Latin Ruth, from Hebrew רות. First recorded as a given name in 1621.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Ruth (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Ruth has been rising over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2021. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | 10 |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | 15 |
| 2003 | 10 |
| 2004 | 11 |
| 2005 | 10 |
| 2006 | 10 |
| 2007 | 18 |
| 2008 | 28 |
| 2009 | 42 |
| 2010 | 43 |
| 2011 | 49 |
| 2012 | 59 |
| 2013 | 50 |
| 2014 | 65 |
| 2015 | 69 |
| 2016 | 65 |
| 2017 | 75 |
| 2018 | 63 |
| 2019 | 85 |
| 2020 | 107 |
| 2021 | 123 |
| 2022 | 95 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 8,755 |
| 2000 | 8,422 |
| 2001 | 8,130 |
| 2002 | 7,834 |
| 2003 | 7,511 |
| 2004 | 7,174 |
| 2005 | 6,859 |
| 2006 | 6,610 |
| 2007 | 6,358 |
| 2008 | 6,155 |
| 2009 | 5,924 |
| 2010 | 5,706 |
| 2011 | 5,523 |
| 2012 | 5,385 |
| 2013 | 5,228 |
| 2014 | 5,103 |
| 2015 | 4,973 |
| 2016 | 4,833 |
| 2017 | 4,707 |
| 2018 | 4,600 |
| 2019 | 4,488 |
| 2020 | 4,416 |
Ruth in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Ruth.Hi! My name is Ruth.
- Ruth har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Ruth has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Ruths mamma är lärare.Ruth's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Ruths mamma is Ruth's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Ruth
How do you pronounce Ruth in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Ruth from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Ruth mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name, an alternative spelling of Rut. From Vulgate Latin Ruth, from Hebrew רות. First recorded as a given name in 1621.
How popular is Ruth in Sweden?
95 babies were named Ruth in 2022. In 2020, 4,416 people in Sweden had Ruth as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising lately and peaked in 2021 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.