You could say Ruby, Python, Perl, C, Java, etc are really ALGOL-like languages whose data structures are generally mutable, and whose syntax is made for expressing how the state of the program is mutated in-place.

Whereas LISP-like languages have data structures that are generally immutable, and whose functional orientation results in expressing the computation of new data from old (mostly) without mutating in-place.

The thing about imperative programming languages is that the paradigm matches up to the mental model of "a computer" that most programmers would recognize and find comfortable. Without having any concrete evidence, I have a hunch that this paradigm difference is what deters new developers the most. And stacked on top of that you have the non-ALGOL syntax and the lack of libraries.

In my opinion, anyway.