Sorry, but I've never liked either name.
Maude is a 5/10 and
Ruth is a 4.5/10. Why? Well, for one thing,
Maude sounds kind of like
Claude, which sounds kind of like
Clyde; neither of them sound feminine to me - but not masculine either. I prefer
Maude to
Ruth because it so dated that it sounds "new". There are many Ruths out there, according to the social security data, but hardly any Maudes these days. It would make an interesting middle name, I guess.
I don't like
Ruth because I generally don't like names that end in -th. I feel that's its kind of masculine, and yet, its not a good idea for a son. He'll probably hate it. Baby
Ruth chocolate doesn't put me off of it at all. I actually like the chocolate. But it doesn't help my impression either. There's something strong about the name that I like. I'll move it up 5/10.
Maude sounds delicate, which I kind of like as well. Maybe I'll move that up to 5.5/10.
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