How Many People Are Named Rufus?
An estimated 13,008 people in the United States have the first name Rufus. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 65 years old, and Rufus peaked in popularity in 1922 with 746 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Rufus 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 Rufus paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Rufus is overwhelmingly male, 151 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
13,008
About 1 in 26,350 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.6% confidence
Average Age
65
years old
Peak Year
1922
746 births
Total Registered
36,196
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Rufus
Rufus is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 36,196 total births registered, 99.6% were male.
Rufus as a male name
Ranked #4,151 in 2024
26 male births in 2024
Peak: 1922 (737 births)
Rufus as a female name
Ranked #7,316 in 1965
5 female births in 1965
Peak: 1926 (10 births)
Rufus: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Rufus span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 6,807 babies were registered. Rufus has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Rufus by Decade
How has Rufus 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.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,283 | 1,283 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 1,298 | 1,298 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 1,552 | 1,552 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 4,926 | 4,901 | 25 | |
| 1920s | 6,807 | 6,749 | 58 | |
| 1930s | 4,788 | 4,776 | 12 | |
| 1940s | 4,691 | 4,667 | 24 | |
| 1950s | 4,177 | 4,155 | 22 | |
| 1960s | 2,635 | 2,625 | 10 | |
| 1970s | 1,570 | 1,570 | 0 | |
| 1980s | 1,120 | 1,120 | 0 | |
| 1990s | 558 | 558 | 0 | |
| 2000s | 328 | 328 | 0 | |
| 2010s | 340 | 340 | 0 | |
| 2020s | 123 | 123 | 0 | |
Rufus by State
Birth registrations for Rufus span all 30 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama. The lowest are in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Kansas. On average, about 942 Rufuss were registered per state.
Rufus + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Rufus as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Rufus
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
Rufus: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rufus?
We estimate approximately 13,008 people named Rufus 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 26,350 Americans share this first name.
Is Rufus a common name?
Rufus is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.1% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 36,196 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Rufus most popular?
Rufus reached peak popularity in 1922, when 746 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Rufus is approximately 65 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Rufus a male name?
Rufus is predominantly male. 99.6% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Rufus Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Rufus Smith, Rufus Johnson, Rufus 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.
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