Rune

Did you know?

A few things about Rune you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Rune

Rune Jarstein

Norwegian association football player

Choose Rune and your child shares a first name with Rune Jarstein, a Norwegian association football player. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Rune, like who?” Rune Jarstein's Wikipedia article is available in 32 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Rune Jarstein on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 18,975 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Rune, 90 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Rune would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryRune first shows up in US birth records in 2001, the first year at least 5 babies got it. That makes it a fairly new name, younger than many of today's parents.
• 🏆Best yearRune is at its all-time high right now: #1,778 in 2025.
• ✨New on the sceneRune wasn't given to enough babies to be counted in 2000. It only took off after 2001.
• 🚀TrendRune has climbed 1,496 places in the US rankings over the last five years and now sits at #1,778. Fast risers like this often keep climbing, so expect to hear it more.
• 📍Where it's lovedRune is most popular in Oklahoma, where it ranks #698, followed by Washington (#801) and Virginia (#875). It's in the top 1,000 in 3 states.
• ⚖️Boy or girlRune is given to both boys and girls: 76% of the 119 babies named Rune in 2025 were boys. That makes it one of the names that truly works for either.
• 💬MeaningIn Norse, Rune means “secret lore”.

About the name Rune

Rune is a gender-neutral name of German origin meaning “secret lore”. It has 4 letters and 1 syllable, starting with R and ending in “-une”. US birth records list Rune for boys from 2001 to 2025, in 25 of those 25 years. Its best year was 2025, when it ranked #1,778 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #1,778, with 90 babies. Of the 119 US babies named Rune in 2025, 24% were girls and 76% were boys.

Origin:German names