Ruthie

Ruthie is an affectionate English form of Ruth, the Hebrew biblical name traditionally connected with friendship or companionship. The ending makes it a familiar form rather than a separate Hebrew word. “Compassionate friend” is an appealing expanded interpretation, but compassion is better understood as an association with Ruth’s story than as an extra literal element in the name.

In the Book of Ruth, the heroine’s loyalty to Naomi gives the older name a particularly strong relational meaning. Ruthie carries that connection while having its own history as a recorded first name. A child named Ruthie does not need Ruth as a formal version, although the two can naturally serve as everyday and formal forms within one family.