Meaning not yet researched.
Rufus: US boys given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 27 in 2025. Its best rank was #88 in 1880.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #88 in 1880; #4,019 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Rufus in 2025 was a boy.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#4,019 for US boys in 2025. Its best year was 1880, at #88.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Rufus: US boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 27 boys in 2025. Peak: #88 in 1880 · most boys in one year: 737 (1922).
In 2025, 27 US boys were named Rufus, making it the 4,019th most common boys’ name of the year, up 151 places from #4,170 in 2024. That is 1 more than the 26 boys named Rufus in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #88, reached in 1880. The most boys given the name in a single year was 737, in 1922. For comparison, it was #2,799 in 2015 and #334 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Rufus in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 163 babies with the name. In all, 36,225 US babies have been given the name, 0.4% of them girls and 99.5% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1920s, with 6,807 babies named Rufus.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 278 US boys were named Rufus; the busiest of those years was 2017, with 36. In 2025 that was about 1 in 63,262 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Rarer spellings such as Ruffus, Rufas and Rufes are summarised on this page.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in English and Polish. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
No related spellings pass our data threshold.
Rare spellings summarised here: Ruffus (674), Rufas (25), Rufes (5).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
No nicknames listed for Rufus in the open dataset we use.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | — | 27 | #4,019 |
| 2024 | — | — | 26 | #4,170 |
| 2023 | — | — | 19 | #5,209 |
| 2022 | — | — | 28 | #3,971 |
| 2021 | — | — | 25 | #4,211 |
| 2020 | — | — | 26 | #4,005 |
| 2019 | — | — | 30 | #3,701 |
| 2018 | — | — | 26 | #4,082 |
| 2017 | — | — | 36 | #3,239 |
| 2016 | — | — | 35 | #3,281 |
| 2015 | — | — | 43 | #2,799 |
| 2014 | — | — | 20 | #4,828 |
| 2013 | — | — | 44 | #2,704 |
| 2012 | — | — | 30 | #3,610 |
| 2011 | — | — | 40 | #2,945 |
| 2010 | — | — | 36 | #3,171 |
| 2009 | — | — | 24 | #4,253 |
| 2008 | — | — | 27 | #3,902 |
| 2007 | — | — | 29 | #3,673 |
| 2006 | — | — | 36 | #3,073 |
| 2005 | — | — | 34 | #3,074 |
| 2004 | — | — | 41 | #2,630 |
| 2003 | — | — | 28 | #3,352 |
| 2002 | — | — | 39 | #2,543 |
| 2001 | — | — | 34 | #2,781 |
| 2000 | — | — | 36 | #2,611 |
| 1999 | — | — | 43 | #2,192 |
| 1998 | — | — | 42 | #2,189 |
| 1997 | — | — | 47 | #1,956 |
| 1996 | — | — | 39 | #2,175 |
| 1995 | — | — | 44 | #1,948 |
| 1994 | — | — | 62 | #1,528 |
| 1993 | — | — | 55 | #1,636 |
| 1992 | — | — | 67 | #1,391 |
| 1991 | — | — | 78 | #1,271 |
| 1990 | — | — | 81 | #1,223 |
| 1989 | — | — | 78 | #1,217 |
| 1988 | — | — | 96 | #991 |
| 1987 | — | — | 97 | #959 |
| 1986 | — | — | 89 | #981 |
| 1985 | — | — | 125 | #797 |
| 1984 | — | — | 108 | #847 |
| 1983 | — | — | 120 | #803 |
| 1982 | — | — | 119 | #812 |
| 1981 | — | — | 139 | #740 |
| 1980 | — | — | 149 | #713 |
| 1979 | — | — | 134 | #749 |
| 1978 | — | — | 132 | #735 |
| 1977 | — | — | 142 | #715 |
| 1976 | — | — | 149 | #677 |
| 1975 | — | — | 147 | #680 |
| 1974 | — | — | 144 | #680 |
| 1973 | — | — | 164 | #618 |
| 1972 | — | — | 178 | #599 |
| 1971 | — | — | 196 | #591 |
| 1970 | — | — | 184 | #599 |
| 1969 | — | — | 206 | #547 |
| 1968 | — | — | 193 | #545 |
| 1967 | — | — | 232 | #492 |
| 1966 | — | — | 228 | #503 |
| 1965 | 5 | #7,317 | 228 | #505 |
| 1964 | — | — | 303 | #456 |
| 1963 | — | — | 301 | #456 |
| 1962 | — | — | 272 | #481 |
| 1961 | 5 | #7,350 | 330 | #441 |
| 1960 | — | — | 332 | #441 |
| 1959 | — | — | 358 | #420 |
| 1958 | — | — | 347 | #423 |
| 1957 | 5 | #6,857 | 410 | #380 |
| 1956 | — | — | 402 | #368 |
| 1955 | 6 | #5,713 | 406 | #358 |
| 1954 | — | — | 475 | #332 |
| 1953 | — | — | 449 | #332 |
| 1952 | 6 | #5,449 | 456 | #325 |
| 1951 | 5 | #6,083 | 445 | #325 |
| 1950 | — | — | 407 | #334 |
| 1949 | 6 | #5,148 | 498 | #304 |
| 1948 | 5 | #5,890 | 466 | #313 |
| 1947 | — | — | 489 | #315 |
| 1946 | — | — | 467 | #300 |
| 1945 | — | — | 412 | #296 |
| 1944 | — | — | 479 | #271 |
| 1943 | — | — | 483 | #278 |
| 1942 | 5 | #5,258 | 456 | #281 |
| 1941 | — | — | 457 | #261 |
| 1940 | 8 | #3,462 | 460 | #257 |
| 1939 | — | — | 430 | #260 |
| 1938 | — | — | 443 | #261 |
| 1937 | — | — | 479 | #242 |
| 1936 | 6 | #4,091 | 449 | #249 |
| 1935 | — | — | 461 | #250 |
| 1934 | — | — | 480 | #238 |
| 1933 | — | — | 477 | #238 |
| 1932 | — | — | 511 | #236 |
| 1931 | 6 | #4,265 | 482 | #240 |
| 1930 | — | — | 565 | #225 |
| 1929 | 5 | #5,173 | 566 | #226 |
| 1928 | 6 | #4,631 | 602 | #218 |
| 1927 | 7 | #4,214 | 690 | #204 |
| 1926 | 10 | #3,234 | 641 | #214 |
| 1925 | 7 | #4,371 | 676 | #207 |
| 1924 | 8 | #3,949 | 709 | #197 |
| 1923 | — | — | 678 | #199 |
| 1922 | 9 | #3,613 | 737 | #188 |
| 1921 | — | — | 721 | #191 |
| 1920 | 6 | #4,886 | 729 | #188 |
| 1919 | 5 | #5,443 | 677 | #190 |
| 1918 | 7 | #4,222 | 721 | #183 |
| 1917 | — | — | 646 | #187 |
| 1916 | — | — | 577 | #197 |
| 1915 | 7 | #3,736 | 588 | #188 |
| 1914 | — | — | 495 | #179 |
| 1913 | 6 | #3,124 | 410 | #169 |
| 1912 | — | — | 336 | #175 |
| 1911 | — | — | 230 | #148 |
| 1910 | — | — | 221 | #145 |
| 1909 | — | — | 206 | #131 |
| 1908 | — | — | 156 | #152 |
| 1907 | — | — | 175 | #137 |
| 1906 | — | — | 156 | #134 |
| 1905 | — | — | 157 | #139 |
| 1904 | — | — | 138 | #143 |
| 1903 | — | — | 134 | #140 |
| 1902 | — | — | 152 | #126 |
| 1901 | — | — | 121 | #137 |
| 1900 | — | — | 157 | #141 |
| 1899 | — | — | 127 | #127 |
| 1898 | — | — | 141 | #131 |
| 1897 | — | — | 124 | #131 |
| 1896 | — | — | 145 | #121 |
| 1895 | — | — | 135 | #124 |
| 1894 | — | — | 128 | #124 |
| 1893 | — | — | 139 | #118 |
| 1892 | — | — | 137 | #125 |
| 1891 | — | — | 107 | #129 |
| 1890 | — | — | 115 | #126 |
| 1889 | — | — | 108 | #133 |
| 1888 | — | — | 126 | #125 |
| 1887 | — | — | 119 | #114 |
| 1886 | — | — | 139 | #113 |
| 1885 | — | — | 118 | #117 |
| 1884 | — | — | 117 | #125 |
| 1883 | — | — | 125 | #106 |
| 1882 | — | — | 147 | #98 |
| 1881 | — | — | 121 | #105 |
| 1880 | — | — | 163 | #88 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).