Rush
Masculine · “From the rush plant”
Rush is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 3,438 boys against 12 girls since 1880.
Rush is an English and Irish surname that stepped forward into first-name position, the way Americans have long done with family names. It is a single syllable with nothing hidden in it — one look and any reader says it correctly. It has been quietly present in American records across many generations, and is being picked up again by a new set of parents.
How old is the name Rush?
Rush was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Rush alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 2,400 people named Rush are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rush most popular?
Rush peaked in 1891, reaching #497 nationally. Today it ranks #1425, 928 places below that high. See the whole 1891 chart.
Rush appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From rysc (Old English: the rush plant) to Rush
The story of Rush
The English surname comes from rysc, the Old English word for the marsh rush — the plant that was strewn across floors before carpets, woven into mats and baskets, and twisted with tallow into the rushlights that lit poor households for centuries. Someone whose home stood in rushy ground was named for it, and the name stuck to the family. In Ireland, the same spelling arrived by a different route, as the English rendering of Ó Rois. Rush reached American birth records through the nineteenth-century habit of promoting a mother's or grandmother's surname to the front of a child's name, which is where nearly all of its early use sits.
Meaningscholars disagree
From the rush plant, or from the Irish family name Ó Rois
Two roads meet at this spelling. The English surname is topographic, from Old English rysc, the rush that grows in wet ground — a name for someone who lived where rushes grew. Separately, Rush is a long-standing anglicization of the Irish Ó Rois. Neither cancels the other; a given-name Rush can honestly claim either line.
How the name formed
- ryscOld English: the rush plant
- ruscheMiddle English
- RushEnglish and Irish surname
- Rushgiven name
Pronouncing Rush
RUSH
Rhymes with hush. One syllable, and identical to the everyday word, so there is nothing to teach anyone.
Nicknames for Rush
Limited
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 2022139 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #497reached in 1891
- Change vs 2022
- −9.4%126 in 2025, from 139
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Rush in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Missouri.
Rushs among us
people named Rush are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 13,556 born in 2025 was named Rush
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Rush is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Rush is headed
Rush should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Rush beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rush in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A spelling every English speaker already knows on sight — no dictation, no correcting, no alternate versions competing with it.
- One syllable, which sits easily in front of long or multi-syllable surnames.
- Belongs to the well-established American pattern of surnames used as given names, so it reads as a name rather than an invention.
- Documented in American records across many generations, giving it a real past rather than a recent coinage.
- It is also a common English word. Rush hour, in a rush, an adrenaline rush — the puns are obvious and will arrive early, though they tend to wear out quickly.
- In the US the name carries two strong associations: the broadcaster Rush Limbaugh and the Canadian rock band Rush. Neither is neutral for every listener, and it is worth knowing which one people in your circle will hear first.
- Spoken quickly it can be heard as Russ, so expect the occasional correction even though the spelling is straightforward.
- A child with this name will most likely be the only one in the room — easy to remember, and never confused with a classmate.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Rush to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Rush
Masculine · #1425 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Rushs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,400 people named Rush are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rush in 2025?
- Rush ranks #1425 among US boy names in 2025, with 126 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rush?
- About 1 in every 13,556 US boys born in 2025 was named Rush — 126 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rush with classmates?
- Rush will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rush
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jessie#1425 · Zack#1425 · Dev#1425 · Finneas#1425 · Aleksander#1425 · Haze#1425 · Jacoby#1425 · Orson#1425
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rush? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rush and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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