Name Awesome

Rune

#1,789 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Counselor, through Rúni

Rune has been given to 861 babies in the U.S. since 2001. In 2025 it ranked #1,789 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 90 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 83% boys, 17% girls all-time.

Babies named Rune, 2025

1 in 36,800

Rune over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
025507510018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

In 2025, Rune went to 24% girls and 76% boys.

20012025

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.

Rune: meaning, origin, and history

Counselor, through Rúni

Old Norse

What Rune means

Rune belongs to the name family reached through Rune → Rúni. Its meaning is “counselor”.

Origin, language, and formation

Rune is used in Danish, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish. Its origins include Old Norse.

Rune comes through Old Norse Rúni.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Runa and Rúni.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Norwegian Nynorsk, Rune is pronounced /²rʉːnə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 713 boys were recorded with the name Rune between 2001 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 90 in 2025; its best national rank was #1,789 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #3,329 in 2020 to #1,789 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #4,519 in 2015 to #1,789 in 2025.

In the United States, 148 girls were recorded with the name Rune between 2011 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 29 in 2025; its best national rank was #4,733 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #7,500 in 2020 to #4,733 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #14,222 in 2015 to #4,733 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 Rune?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 36,800
90 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 19,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,789
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
25,533 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Rune 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 5001%

Put another way: gather 25,533 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Rune. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Runes were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Rune was born before 2020 — so the typical Rune is around 5 today.

Median birth year
2020
About 5 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
51.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
100.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
713
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 51.6% of all recorded uses (368).

Is Rune 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
+144
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+1,540
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+2,730
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
4.09×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (90)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
28.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,789
2025

Spellings of Rune

Rune is not the most common spelling — Bruce is, with 24.9% against Rune's 0.05%.

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 Rune is used

Across 2016–2025, Rune was most concentrated in Washington — about 1 in 25,000 boys, against 1 in 53,496 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in 100,000).

14 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Washington1 in 25,000
  2. 2Oklahoma1 in 33,333
  3. 3Oregon1 in 33,333
  4. 4California1 in 50,000
  5. 5Ohio1 in 50,000
  6. 6Virginia1 in 50,000
  7. 7Arizona1 in 100,000
  8. 8Texas1 in 100,000

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.

Rune around the world

Where Rune 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
    1999–2025
    #1,124
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2024
    #468
    in 2024
  • Canada
    2017–2024
    #2,134
    in 2024

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Norway and Statistics Canada. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. SSB data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Rune by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,789
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,540
Best rank ever
#1,789
2025
Peak year
2025
90 that year
First recorded
2001
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
713
Count in 2025
90

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#4,733
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 2,767
Best rank ever
#4,733
2025
Peak year
2025
29 that year
First recorded
2011
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
148
Count in 2025
29

Names similar to Rune

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

JuneDuneShauneEuguneFortuneAliouneDauneRunakoRunarRunnieNeptuneRundyLajauneDeshauneLejeuneDameyuneAntwaune

Sibling names for Rune

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 Rune

Top names of 2025, Rune's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2025Boys' names starting with RNorwegian Boy NamesShort Danish Boy NamesSwedish Boy Names