Ruby · Daily fortune

Ruby is a feminine English name taken straight from the gemstone. Behind the Name explains that the stone's name derives from Medieval Latin rubinus, ultimately from Latin rubeus, "red", and that the ruby is the traditional birthstone of July; the word came into use as a given name in the 16th century. Wikipedia gives the same derivation and places its rise as a girls' name in the late Victorian era, alongside the other jewel names. It is well used across the English-speaking world today, and in 2025 it ranked #64 for girls in the United States.

Behind the Name is unambiguous: Ruby comes "simply from the name of the precious stone (which derives from Medieval Latin rubinus, ultimately from Latin rubeus 'red'), the traditional birthstone of July", and "came into use as a given name in the 16th century". Wikipedia agrees on the derivation — "The name of the gemstone comes from the Latin rubinus, meaning red" — and adds that the name is the birthstone for July. There is no competing etymology: the name is the English word for the stone, and the colour sense sits one step behind it in Latin.

Behind the Name dates the word's use as a given name to the 16th century. Wikipedia places its real rise much later, in the late Victorian era, when it emerged as a popular girls' name alongside the other jewel names. Wikipedia also records a detail that surprises most readers: between 1900 and 1940 Ruby was occasionally given to boys in the United States, sometimes as a nickname for Reuben. The name is now well used for girls across English-speaking countries, and Behind the Name lists forms in Italian, Portuguese, Slovene and Esperanto.

Ruby ranked #64 for girls in the United States in 2025 (Social Security Administration). Wikipedia describes it as currently well used for girls across English-speaking countries, with its first wave of popularity in the late Victorian era; neither source supplies a year-by-year American series, so no trend beyond that is claimed here.

Behind the Name gives one pronunciation, English /ˈɹuː.bi/, ROO-bee. Ruby is classed as an English name; the other rows are the forms listed under "Other Languages & Cultures", and their pronunciations were not verified in this pass.

Ruby is bright, short and unpretentious — a word everybody knows, used as a name without any layer of translation. It belongs to the Victorian revival cohort with Pearl, Hazel, Opal and Violet, and of that group it has travelled furthest, being a mainstay in Britain and Australia as well as the United States. The colour does a lot of the work: the name sounds warm and slightly theatrical, which is a good fit for some families and too much for others.

Bearers named in the sources consulted for this profile; Wikipedia's full list of people named Ruby was not mined beyond its highlighted entries.

Names that share Ruby's jewel-and-word register, its Victorian revival cohort, or its sound.