Prue

#6,763 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Short form of Prudence

Prue has been given to 101 babies in the U.S. since 1927. In 2025 it ranked #6,763 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2022, with 18 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 94% girls, 6% boys all-time.

Babies named Prue, 2025

1 in 195,000

Prue over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Prue over time

In 2025, Prue went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19252025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Prue: meaning, origin, and history

Short form of Prudence

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Prue means

Prue is a short form of Prudence.

Origin, language, and formation

Prue is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Prudence.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 95 girls were recorded with the name Prue between 1927 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 18 in 2022; its best national rank was #5,451 in 1927.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #10,897 in 2020 to #6,763 in 2025.

In the United States, 6 boys were recorded with the name Prue between 1925 and 1925. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1925; its best national rank was #4,092 in 1925.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Prue?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 195,000; 17 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only: 1 in 94,500; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025: #6,763; of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 135,172 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Prue sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 135,172 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Prue. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Prues were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Prue was born before 2022 — so the typical Prue is around 3 today.

Median birth year: 2022; About 3 years old
Biggest decade: 2020s; 81.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 94.7%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 90; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2020s — 81.1% of all recorded uses (77).

Is Prue rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: +3,320; Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago: +4,134; Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 94.4%; Peak was 2022 (18)
Years since peak: 3; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 40.1% average annual change
Best rank ever: #5,451; 1927

Spellings of Prue

Prue is not the most common spelling — Sue is, with 63.6% against Prue's 0.04%.

Sue63.6%144,536
Rae10.3%23,460
Bree4.1%9,287
Lue2.9%6,474
Paul2.6%5,842
Cruz1.9%4,232
Arie1.8%4,157
Larue1.8%3,980

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Prue is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Prue was most concentrated in South Carolina — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 500,295 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1South Carolina1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Prue has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Prue around the world

Where Prue ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

England & Wales
2015–2024
#5,892
in 2024
South Australia
1964–2008
#796
in 2008

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Prue by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: #6,763
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Up 4,134
Best rank ever: #5,451; 1927
Peak year: 2022; 18 that year
First recorded: 1927
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 95
Count in 2025: 17

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #4,092; 1925
Peak year: 1925; 6 that year
First recorded: 1925
Last recorded: 1925
All-time count: 6
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Prue

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Krue Crue Pruitt Jrue Prudy Drue Pruda Prudie Pruett Harue True Rue Prutha Tsurue Girtrue Gertrue Larue Prudencia Prunelle Prudence Prudance Gurtrue

Sibling names for Prue

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Annabell Karleigh Rhianna Adelle Keren Abagail Kendyl Anabel

For a brother

Kale Aaden Hamilton Evans Caesar Brennen Tobin Jerimiah

Explore around Prue

Top names of 2022, Prue's peak year The 2020s in full Other names that peaked in 1927 Girls' names starting with P