Humanverse

Rubina vs Rubye

American parents have registered 6,967 Rubyes since 1880, against 638 Rubinas. But in 2025 it was Rubina that was commoner, 6 babies to fewer than five.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Rubina against Rubye, 1880 to 2025 0 80 160 240 320 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Rubina Rubye

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 136 years in which either name was published, Rubye for 86 years and Rubina for 50 years. The lead changed hands 11 times.

Side by side

  Rubina Rubye
Total US births 6386,967
Most in one year 17256
Babies in 2025 6under 5
Estimated living today 5801,200
Median age today 3378
Peak year 19831919
Best rank 4,286th girls403rd girls
Rank in 2025 13,208thunranked
First recorded 19101886
Girls / boys 638 / 06,967 / 0

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Rubyes alive today are over 78; half the Rubinas are over 33. That is 45 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Rubina and Rubye.