RUAIDHRÍ m IrishMeans
"red king" from Irish
ruadh "red" combined with
rí "king". This was the name of the last high king of Ireland, reigning in the 12th century.
RUARC m IrishProbably an Irish form of
HRŒREKR, introduced by Scandinavian settlers and invaders. Alternatively it may be derived from Irish
ruarc "squall, rainstorm".
RUBAB f ArabicFrom an Arabic word referring to a type of stringed musical instrument. This was the name of the wife of the Prophet
Muhammad's grandson
Husayn.
RUBENA f EsperantoFrom Esperanto
rubeno meaning
"ruby", ultimately from Latin
ruber "red".
RUBINA f ItalianDerived from Italian
rubino meaning
"ruby", ultimately from Latin
ruber "red".
RUBY f EnglishSimply from the name of the precious stone (which ultimately derives from Latin
ruber "red"), which is the birthstone of July. It came into use as a given name in the 19th century.
RUDOLF m German, Dutch, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Russian, ArmenianFrom the Germanic name
Hrodulf, which was derived from the elements
hrod "fame" and
wulf "wolf". It was borne by three kings of Burgundy, as well as several Habsburg rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Austria. Anthony Hope used this name for the hero in his popular novel
The Prisoner of Zenda (1894).
RUDOLPH m EnglishEnglish form of
RUDOLF, imported from Germany in the 19th century. Robert L. May used it in 1939 for his Christmas character Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
RUDYARD m English (Rare)From a place name meaning
"red yard" in Old English. This name was borne by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), the author of
The Jungle Book and other works, who was named after Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire.
RUE f EnglishFrom the name of the bitter medicinal herb, ultimately deriving from Greek
ῥυτή (rhyte). This is also sometimes used as a short form of
RUTH (1).
RUFUS m Ancient Roman, English, BiblicalRoman cognomen meaning
"red-haired" in Latin. Several early saints had this name, including one mentioned in one of
Paul's epistles in the New Testament. As a nickname it was used by William II Rufus, a king of England, because of his red hair. It came into general use in the English-speaking world after the Protestant Reformation.
RUGGIERO m ItalianItalian form of
ROGER. This is the name of a Saracen knight in the epic poems
Orlando Innamorato (1483) by Matteo Maria Boiardo and
Orlando Furioso (1532) by Ludovico Ariosto, as well as several operas based on the poems.
RUKMINI f HinduismMeans
"adorned with gold" in Sanskrit. In Hindu belief this is the name of a princess who became the wife of
Krishna.
RUMPELSTILTSKIN m LiteratureFrom German
Rumpelstilzchen, possibly from German
rumpeln meaning "make noise" and
Stelze meaning "stilt", combined with the diminutive suffix
-chen. It has been suggested that it was inspired by a children's game
Rumpele stilt oder der Poppart mentioned in Johann Fischart's 1577 book
Geschichtklitterung. This name was used by the Brothers Grimm in an 1812 fairy tale about a magical little man (Rumpelstiltskin) who saves a miller's daughter in exchange for her firstborn child. In order to undo the deal, she must guess the man's name. The Grimm's story was based upon earlier European folk tales (which have various names for the little man).
RUNAR m NorwegianDerived from the Old Norse elements
rún "secret lore" and
arr "warrior". This name did not exist in Old Norse, but was created in the modern era.
RUPERT m German, Dutch, EnglishGerman variant form of
ROBERT. The military commander Prince Rupert of the Rhine, a nephew of Charles I, introduced this name to England in the 17th century.
RUPINDER m & f Indian (Sikh)Means
"greatest beauty" from Sanskrit
रूप (rupa) meaning "beauty, form" combined with the name of the Hindu god
INDRA, used here to mean "greatest".
RUQAYYAH f ArabicDerived either from Arabic
رقى (ruqia) meaning
"rise, ascent" or from
رقية (ruqyah) meaning
"spell, charm, incantation". This was the name of one of the daughters of the Prophet
Muhammad. She became a wife of
Uthman, the third caliph of the Muslims.
RUSLAN m Russian, Tatar, Bashkir, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Turkmen, Azerbaijani, Ossetian, Chechen, Ingush, Avar, Circassian, Indonesian, MalayForm of
YERUSLAN used by Aleksandr Pushkin in his poem
Ruslan and Ludmila (1820), which was loosely based on Russian and Tatar folktales of Yeruslan Lazarevich.
RUSSELL m EnglishFrom a surname meaning
"little red one" in French. A notable bearer of the surname was the agnostic British philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), who wrote on many subjects including logic, epistemology and mathematics. He was also a political activist for causes such as pacifism and women's rights.
RUSTY m EnglishFrom a nickname that was originally given to someone with a rusty, or reddish-brown, hair colour.
RUSUDAN f GeorgianPossibly derived from Persian
روز (ruz) meaning
"day". This name was borne by a 13th-century ruling queen of Georgia.
RŪTA f Lithuanian, LatvianMeans
"rue" in Lithuanian, the rue plant being a bitter medicinal herb that is a national symbol of Lithuania. This is also the Lithuanian and Latvian form of
RUTH (1).
RUY m Portuguese, SpanishMedieval Portuguese and Spanish short form of
RODRIGO. It is another name of the 11th-century Spanish military commander Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, also known as El Cid.
RUZHA f Bulgarian, MacedonianMeans
"hollyhock" in Bulgarian and Macedonian (referring to flowering plants from the genera Alcea and Althaea).
RYAN m Irish, EnglishFrom an Irish surname that was derived from
Ó Riain meaning
"descendant of Rían". The given name
Rían probably means
"little king" (from Irish
rí "king" combined with a diminutive suffix).
RYDER m English (Modern)From an English occupational surname derived from Old English
ridere meaning
"mounted warrior" or
"messenger".
RYKER m English (Modern)Possibly a variant of the German surname
Riker, a derivative of Low German
rike "rich". It may have been altered by association with the popular name prefix
Ry.
RYLAN m English (Modern)Possibly a variant of the English surname
Ryland, which was originally derived from a place name meaning
"rye land" in Old English.
RYO m JapaneseAlternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
涼 or
遼 or
諒 (see
RYŌ).
RYŌ m JapaneseFrom Japanese
涼 (ryō) meaning "cool, refreshing",
遼 (ryō) meaning "distant" or
諒 (ryō) meaning "reality", as well as other kanji that have the same pronunciation.
RYŌICHI m JapaneseFrom Japanese
良 (ryō) meaning "good" or
亮 (ryō) meaning "clear" combined with
一 (ichi) meaning "one". Other kanji combinations are possible.
RYŌTA m JapaneseFrom Japanese
涼 (ryō) meaning "cool, refreshing",
亮 (ryō) meaning "clear" or
良 (ryō) meaning "good" combined with
太 (ta) meaning "thick, big". This name can also be formed of other kanji combinations.
RYOU m JapaneseAlternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
涼 or
遼 or
諒 (see
RYŌ).
RYŪ m JapaneseFrom Japanese
竜, 龍 (ryū) meaning "dragon", as well as other kanji with the same pronunciation.
RYŪJI m JapaneseFrom Japanese
竜, 龍 (ryū) meaning "dragon" or
隆 (ryū) meaning "noble, prosperous" combined with
二 (ji) meaning "two" or
司 (ji) meaning "officer, boss". This name can also be formed using other kanji combinations.
RYŪNOSUKE m JapaneseFrom Japanese
竜, 龍 (ryū) meaning "dragon" or
隆 (ryū) meaning "noble, prosperous" combined with
之 (no), a possessive marker, and
介 (suke) meaning "forerunner, herald". Other kanji combinations are also possible.
RYUUJI m JapaneseAlternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
竜二 or
龍二 or
隆二 or
竜司 or
龍司 or
隆司 or
竜次 or
龍次 or
竜児 or
龍児 (see
RYŪJI).