Ruffus vs Rufina

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Ruffus Rufina

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 107 years in which either name was published, Rufina for 77 years and Ruffus for 30 years. The lead changed hands 17 times.

• 1881–1892 Ruffus ahead
• 1902–1911 Rufina ahead
• 1914–1922 Ruffus ahead, apart from one short spell
• 1923–1931 Rufina ahead
• 1932–1941 Ruffus ahead
• 1942–1949 Rufina ahead
• 1956–1958 Ruffus ahead
• 1962–2025 Rufina ahead

9 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.

Side by side

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 Ruffuses alive today are over 78; half the Rufinas are over 48. That is 30 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

• Ruffus North Carolina (15.9×)
• Rufina New Mexico (41.9×), Texas (7.4×), California (2.0×)

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

• Ruffus vs Rufus
• Ruffus vs Rufino
• Ruffus vs Ruffin
• Rufina vs Rufus
• Rufina vs Rufino
• Rufina vs Ruffin