Name Awesome

Rudi

#9,537 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Fame, renown + wolf, through Rudolf

Rudi has been given to 1,246 babies in the U.S. since 1931. In 2025 it ranked #9,537 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1978, with 19 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 61% boys, 39% girls all-time.

Babies named Rudi, 2025

1 in 414,000

Rudi over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010203018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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 — Rudi over time

In 2025, Rudi went to 56% girls and 44% boys.

19312025

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.

Rudi: meaning, origin, and history

Fame, renown + wolf, through Rudolf

German

What Rudi means

Rudi belongs to the name family reached through Rudi → Rudi → Rudolf → Ruodolf. Its meaning is “fame, renown + wolf”.

Origin, language, and formation

Rudi is used in English, Afrikaans, Albanian and German. Its origins include German.

Rudi comes through German Rudi.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Rudolf, Rudi and Ruodolf.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 761 boys were recorded with the name Rudi between 1931 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 19 in 1978; its best national rank was #1,962 in 1960.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #11,739 in 2020 to #9,537 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #6,996 in 2015 to #9,537 in 2025.

In the United States, 485 girls were recorded with the name Rudi between 1985 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 27 in 1986; its best national rank was #3,334 in 1986.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #7,884 in 2020 to #9,977 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #14,219 in 2015 to #9,977 in 2025.

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 Rudi?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 414,000
8 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 213,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#9,537
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
287,238 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Rudi sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

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 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Rudi. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Rudis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Rudi was born before 1983 — so the typical Rudi is around 42 today.

Median birth year
1983
About 42 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
15.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
25.1%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
721
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 15.9% of all recorded uses (121).

Is Rudi 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
+1,174
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+2,202
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−2,541
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.67×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
42.1%
Peak was 1978 (19)
Years since peak
47
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
41.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,962
1960

Spellings of Rudi

Rudi is not the most common spelling — Jude is, with 26.7% against Rudi's 0.38%.

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 Rudi is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Rudi was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 838,911 across all states with data. It was least common in Florida (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Florida1 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. Rudi has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Rudi is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Rudi was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 422,294 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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. Rudi has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Rudi around the world

Where Rudi 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
    1996–2025
    #376
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1977–2025
    #152
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    2005–2025
    #212
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    1978–2025
    #676
    in 2025
  • France
    1936–2020
    #6,565
    in 2020
  • Norway
    1880–2007
    #467
    in 2007
  • Canada
    1991–1991
    #1,710
    in 1991
  • South Australia
    1955–2011
    #784
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Rudi by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#9,537
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 2,202
Best rank ever
#1,962
1960
Peak year
1978
19 that year
First recorded
1931
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
761
Count in 2025
8

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#9,977
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 2,093
Best rank ever
#3,334
1986
Peak year
1986
27 that year
First recorded
1985
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
485
Count in 2025
10

Names similar to Rudi

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

RuddyRudraAudiRudellRudranshRudieRudolfRudyRudolfoRudhraRudvikRudolphoRudisRudrRudrakshRuddRudhvikRudhranRudyardRudolphRuddieRudvedChukwudiDaudi

Sibling names for Rudi

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

Explore around Rudi

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