UK boy's name
Ruairidh
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Ruairidh is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Ruairidh popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #1951, with 12 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 1996, with 14 births.
This profile covers 173 England and Wales registrations across 24 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales and NRS Scotland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 86% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 1,662 living people in the UK are called Ruairidh. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Ruairidh ranked #1951 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 12 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 1996, when 14 boys were registered as Ruairidh.
- • Ruairidh ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #56 in 2024.
- • About 1,662 living people in the UK are estimated to have Ruairidh as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#1951
2024
Births in 2024
12
Latest year
Peak year
1996
14 births
Estimated living
1,662
2026
Popularity
Ruairidh over time
The chart below shows babies named Ruairidh registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Ruairidh, the clearest high point is 1996. The latest England and Wales figure is 12 births in 2024, compared with 14 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ruairidh by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Ruairidh was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #2522 | 42 | 5 |
| 2010s | #3107 | 67 | 10 |
| 2000s | #2087 | 31 | 5 |
| 1990s | #1580 | 33 | 4 |
Geography
Where Ruairidh is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Ruairidh. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Ruairidh ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #56 in 2024.
Across the UK
Ruairidh in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#56 in 2024
49 years of NRS records, 1,506 total registered
Related
Names similar to Ruairidh
- Ryan 68,692
- Riley 37,992
- Robert 27,462
- Reuben 25,122
- Rhys 24,418
- Reece 24,329
- Rory 21,870
- Roman 16,609
- Ronnie 16,445
- Reggie 14,684
- Rowan 14,371
- Ralph 8,892
FAQ
Ruairidh: questions and answers
How popular is the name Ruairidh in the UK right now?
In 2024, Ruairidh was ranked #1951 for boys in England and Wales, with 12 births registered.
When was Ruairidh most popular?
The peak year on record was 1996, with 14 babies registered as Ruairidh in England and Wales.
How many people are called Ruairidh in the UK?
A total of 173 babies have been registered as Ruairidh across the 24 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 1,506 more in Scotland.
Where is Ruairidh most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Ruairidh ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #56 in 2024. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.