Rutha vs Rutherford

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Rutha Rutherford

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 103 years in which either name was published, Rutha for 77 years and Rutherford for 26 years. The lead changed hands 14 times.

• 1880–1883 Rutherford ahead
• 1890–1969 Rutha ahead, apart from 4 short spells
• 1977–2023 Rutherford ahead

8 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 Ruthas alive today are over 77; half the Rutherfords are over 55. That is 22 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

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