Rui
A boys’ name with no widely documented etymology — one syllable, given to 18 babies a year in England and Wales.
Rui by the numbers
In 2025, 18 babies in England and Wales were named Rui. In the US, 13 were, though that figure is from 2017, the most recent full year we hold.
For the size of the two countries, it is given several times more often in England and Wales than in the US.
Its American peak was 27 babies in 2011, making it a 2010s name.
What we can tell you about Rui
Not every name has a meaning to trace. Plenty are coined rather than inherited — invented outright, blended from two names, or respelled from an older one — and where we cannot find an etymology we can stand behind, we would rather say so than make one up. What follows comes from the birth records themselves.
Spelled almost the same
Other names in the records within a letter or two of Rui. Close spellings are not always related names, but they are usually worth seeing together.
- Rudifamous wolf; diminutive of Rudolf110 in England and Wales (2025)
- Reispirit or soul; also a Portuguese coin62 in the US (2017)
- Rumiroman or a form of Rumah37 in England and Wales (2025)
- Rueregret or sorrow; also a herb50 in England and Wales (2025)
- Raiking; ruler9 in England and Wales (2025)
- Roimy shepherd; a form of Roy4 in England and Wales (2025)
Sounds like Rui
Names that are said the same way as Rui, however they are written. Sounding alike does not mean they share a history.