Ruby (given name)

Ruby is a predominantly feminine given name taken from the name of the gemstone ruby. The name of the gemstone comes from the Latin ruber, meaning red. The ruby is the birthstone for the month of July.^[1]

The name first came into wide use for girls in the late Victorian era along with other jewel names.

Popularity

Ruby is a currently popular name in English-speaking countries. It was the second most popular name given to baby girls in England and Wales in 2009, was the 24th most popular name given to baby girls born in Scotland in 2009; was the 17th most popular name for girls in Ireland in 2009; was the second most popular name for girls in New Zealand in 2009; was among the top five names given to girls in several Australian states in 2009, 2010 and 2013; and was the 108th most popular name given to baby girls born in the United States in 2009. The name was also once rarely given to boys in the United States and was ranked in the top 1,000 names given to boys born in that country between 1900 and 1940. In its masculine form, it is occasionally used as a nickname for the name Reuben.^[2]

Authors Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz noted in their 2007 book Baby Name Bible that Ruby is a "vibrant" name with a "sassy and sultry" image,^[3] while Laura Wattenberg wrote in her 2005 book The Baby Name Wizard: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name For Your Baby that Ruby has the image of a woman "kicking up her heels" at a music hall.^[4]

Notable people

Notable people with the name include:

• Ruby Bradley (1907–2002), Army nurse
• Ruby Bridges (born 1954), American activist known for being the first black child to attend an all-white elementary school in Louisiana during the 20th century.
• Ruby Dandridge (1900-1987), actress
• Ruby Dee (1924–2014), actress
• Ruby Dhalla (born 1974), Canadian politician
• Ruby Nash Garnett (born 1939), lead singer of American group Ruby & the Romantics
• Ruby Goldstein ("Ruby the Jewel of the Ghetto"; 1907–84), American welterweight boxer and referee
• Ruby Keeler (1910–1993), actress, singer and dancer
• Ruby Laffoon (1869–1941), 43rd Governor of Kentucky
• Ruby Lin (born 1976), Taiwanese actress
• Ruby Murray (1935–1996), singer
• Ruby Myers (1907–1983), also known as Sulochana, Indian silent film actress
• Ruby Payne-Scott (1912–1981), pioneering Australian astronomer
• Ruby Rose (born 1986), Australian MTV VJ
• Ruby Rubacuori (born 1993), Karima el Mahroug, allegedly had sex with the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi when underage
• Ruby (born 1981), real name Rania Hussein Muhammad Tawfiq, Egyptian singer, actress and model
• Ruby Walsh (born 1979), Irish jockey
• Ruby Wax (born 1953), comedian
• Ruby Yang, Chinese-American filmmaker

References