In regards to your reference above to the name
RUTH & it's meaning as "friend"??
Not that, that isn't the meaning you found, BUT in common usage
Ruth means compassionate or to show compassion or mercy.
A little background to understand the usage:
In biblical reference,
Ruth is compassionate to her mother-in-law,
Naomi, a widow & who's 2 sons have also died, one being
Ruth's own husband & the above also listed name "
Orpha" being the wife of her other dead son;
Ruth's sister-in-law.
Naomi, an impoverished widow living in
Moab, no longer has anything to offer her much loved daughters-in-law & gives her blessing for them to each return to their families. Both of the women also have much love for
Naomi & don't want to leave her, but eventual
Orpha is convinced to return o her family home; which is how her name means "nape of the neck" or to "turn your back", although this was not done with malice, it was with sorrow.
On the other hand,
Ruth would not leave
Naomi & when her mother in law decided to return to her home land of Bethlehem,
Ruth follows her to care for her & to See after her safety.
The name
Naomi, does mean pleasant, and receives that definition also from the Bible story due to the description of
Naomi's demeanor. But after the deaths of her husband & sons, he requests that she no longer be called
Naomi, but instead
Mara, which means "bitter", because as a Hebrew woman, she is bitter with God for her losses & new circumstance.
By the way,
Ruth is not Hebrew, nor is her name. This is a misconception.
Ruth &
Orpha are
Moab women, descendants of
Lot, who also turned his back on his Uncle
Abraham.
The descendants of
Lot were enemies of he Hebrews & were cursed to the extent that they & their descendants, none would ever enter the Kingdom of God, and as such, they were considered Gentiles, "Non-Israelites"!
Ruth, cared for her
Naomi, even into Bethlehem, even though her people were cursed in this place.
She adopted
Naomi's faith, due to her compassion for her & her
Naomi's God.
So that is how that became the definition of
Ruth, compassion, mercy, sorrowful for another's grief & for your own faults. To be full of ruth, not a term in common usage any more.
The opposite, antonym of ruth is ruthless, which s more common, often used to describe those in business, who try to achieve success on the backs of others, either through the misery of others or with disregard for others.
Sorry this is so long, but I felt the backgrounds of these names were important to the understanding of their mean.
Have a great day!!
Ellen. : )