National Ruth Day – March 12, 2025

History of National Ruth Day

The name Ruth is of Hebrew origin and means ‘friend,’ ‘friendship,’ or “merciful friend.” It is the common name of a girl named after the eponymous heroine of the eighth book — the ‘Book of Ruth’ — in the ‘Old Testament.’ The ‘Book of Ruth’ is one of only two books named after a woman. The biblical Ruth was the ancestor of King David and the daughter-in-law of Naomi. After her husband’s death, Ruth accompanied her mother-in-law back to Bethlehem and said the famous words, “Wherever you go, there I will go.”

Ruth first appeared as a name in Europe and the British Isles during the English Reformation period, to which biblical names, if they did not refer to saints, were unusual. Although the Puritans were generally unfavorable to biblical proper names, they seemed to make an exception for Ruth. Since it could be interpreted as a name of virtue by comparison with ‘ruth,’ then a common noun of German origin, which generally meant ‘sadness,’ but which could be interpreted as ‘sympathy.’ Therefore, the pilgrims brought Ruth to English-speaking North America, where the name was generally more popular than in the British Isles. However, the name ‘Ruth’ was much more popular in Ireland than in Britain.

According to statistics, the name Ruth ranked 46th on the American list of the most popular names for newborn girls in 1890. In general, the popularity of Ruth has grown steadily with each passing year. It was only in 1970 that it declined, and from 2012 onwards it gradually rose again.

Famous people named Ruth are American anthropologist Ruth Benedict, British linguist Ruth Kempson, and Spanish singer Ruth Lorenzo, among others.