unisex name
Rua
ROO-uh
- Origin Irish
- Gender Unisex
- Syllables 2
- Letters 3
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 387
Northern Ireland
#199
2024 births
Rua is a name from the Irish word for red or red-haired, used for both boys and girls. At 54 percent female it is the most evenly split name in the current Northern Irish top 200, which is genuinely rare for a name marked unisex.
- Rua is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in Ireland in 2022, when 29 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in Ireland.
- Today about 1 in 2,243 babies in Ireland is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 2008.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Rua over time
Births per decade in Ireland, 2000s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 2000s | 11 |
| 2010s | 67 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 117 |
What Rua means
Rua means red, or red-haired. In Irish it is the ordinary color adjective, used of hair, cattle and landscape alike, and it long served as a descriptive epithet before anyone used it as a name.
Where Rua comes from
Rua is the Irish rua, red, specifically the reddish-brown of hair and animal coats rather than the bright red of ruadh in other contexts. It has long served as an epithet rather than a name — Aodh Rua Ó Domhnaill, the sixteenth-century lord of Tyrconnell, is Red Hugh in English, and Máire Rua and Donncha Rua carry it the same way. Its use as a standalone given name is modern and belongs to the same revival that produced Fia and Cara, where a plain Irish word is taken directly. It is also a Māori and Portuguese word with unrelated meanings, which is why some references give it as two or pit and others as street.
Rua in use
Rua ranks 199th in Northern Ireland on 9 births, 332nd in Ireland on 23, 2871st in England and Wales and 6921st in the United States. It peaked in Ireland in 2022, when 29 babies were registered, and is rising in our data. Our records carry it only from 2008 across 387 lifetime births. About 54 percent of those births are female, making it one of very few names in these lists that is close to evenly divided rather than unisex in name only.
How popular is Rua?
In 2025, Rua was given to 20 babies in Ireland, ranking #332 that year. It is a rare choice.
Where Rua is used
Irish figures withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year, so a gap means the name fell below that floor rather than went unused. The Central Statistics Office began recording the síneadh fada in 2018, so accented and unaccented spellings are counted separately from that year on. Data & sources.
How Rua is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Rúa | Rúa is a rare spelling of Rua, written with a fada and recorded 3 times, mostly in Ireland. | 3 |
Names that peaked alongside Rua
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Rua also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Rua over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Rua in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Rua
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Rua — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Rua
What does the name Rua mean?
Red or red-haired — it is the ordinary Irish color adjective.
Is Rua a boy's or a girl's name?
Both, and unusually evenly — about 54 percent of recorded births in our data are female.
How do you pronounce Rua?
ROO-uh, in two syllables.
Is Rua related to Rory?
Yes. Ruaidhrí, which gives Rory, is built on the same red element.
How popular is the name Rua?
In 2025, Rua was given to 20 babies in Ireland, ranking #332 that year. It is a rare choice.
How many syllables are in Rua?
Rua has 2 syllables.
When was Rua most popular?
Rua peaked in 2022, when 29 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Rua a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Rua currently ranks #199 in Ireland. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.