How Many People Are Named Ruel?
An estimated 809 people in the United States have the first name Ruel. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 51 years old, and Ruel peaked in popularity in 1915 with 49 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Ruel as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Ruel paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
809
About 1 in 423,677 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
99.7% confidence
Average Age
51
years old
Peak Year
1915
49 births
Total Registered
1,911
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Ruel
Ruel is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 1,911 total births registered, 99.7% were male.
Ruel as a male name
Ranked #7,618 in 2024
11 male births in 2024
Peak: 1915 (49 births)
Ruel as a female name
Ranked #3,623 in 1913
5 female births in 1913
Peak: 1913 (5 births)
Ruel: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Ruel span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 372 babies were registered. Ruel has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Ruel by Decade
How has Ruel tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Ruel by State
Birth registrations for Ruel span all 8 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma. The lowest are in North Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama. On average, about 20 Ruels were registered per state.
Ruel + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Ruel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Ruel
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
Ruel: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ruel?
We estimate approximately 809 people named Ruel are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 423,677 Americans share this first name.
Is Ruel a common name?
Ruel is classified as "Very Rare" and is more popular than 88.6% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 1,911 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Ruel most popular?
Ruel reached peak popularity in 1915, when 49 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Ruel is approximately 51 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Ruel a male name?
Ruel is predominantly male. 99.7% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Ruel Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Ruel Smith, Ruel Johnson, Ruel Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
Search for a full name combination
How Many of Me