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Rustin

Masculine · “of the country”

1949high 1979
#2258 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare62 boys in 2025

Rustin is a French surname from rustic — rusticus, of the countryside — and Bayard Rustin organized the March on Washington.

How old is the name Rustin?

Rustin first appears in US birth records in 1949 — 76 years ago. The typical Rustin alive today was born around 1989, making them about 36 years old. About 2,700 people named Rustin are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Rustin most popular?

Rustin peaked in 1979, reaching #945 nationally. Today it ranks #2258, 1,313 places below that high. See the whole 1979 chart.

Compare this nameMore “R” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Rustin

Bayard Rustin organized the 1963 March on Washington and was kept in the background because he was gay and had been a Communist; he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 2013. The surname comes from a word for the countryside. Rustin appears in American records in current use.

Meaning

of the country, rustic

From the Old French rustin or the Latin rusticus, 'of the countryside', from rus, 'country'. The same root gives rural and rustic. The surname is French and English. The etymology is documented.

How the name formed

  1. rus
  2. rusticus
  3. Rustin

Related forms: Rustin · Rusten

Pronouncing Rustin

RUS-tin

Two syllables, stress on the first. French says roos-TAN with a nasal ending.

Nicknames for Rustin

Moderate

RustyThe affectionate stretch, and a name in its own right with a real record
RusThe front clipping, used inside families rather than generally
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

BOYS NAMED · 1949–202587440876219492025

US babies named Rustin per year from 1949 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#9451940s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1949
Most boys named
197987 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#945reached in 1979
Change vs 2024
+8.8%62 in 2025, from 57
Rustin sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 1979, with 87 boys. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

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.

Rustin in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • Rustin in French — same name
  • Rusten in English — spelling variant

Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Washington.

Rustins among us

2,700

people named Rustin are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 boy in 27,550 born in 2025 was named Rustin

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

Spellings of Rustin

#2258
Rustin on the 2025 chart
#719
counting every spelling

The SSA counts spellings, not names. Rustin went to 62 boys in 2025, but Rustyn is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 210, which makes it the 719th most-given boys’ name of the year — 1,539 places above the chart.

About 1 boy in 8,134 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 27,550 for Rustin itself.

Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method

III

Is it right for you

The Florentino test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rustin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Florentino climbed just as high around 1908, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Florentino's path sketches the road Rustin is walking now.

40%chance Rustin will feel dated by 2040
Rustin, aligned on its peakFlorentino· peak 1908not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-30 yrs+70 yrsFlorentino · #1543Rustin today
Rustin today is about where Florentino stood in 1954 — 46 years past a #946-sized peak. By 1969, Florentino had settled around #1474.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Rustin sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.

A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored

Where Rustin is headed

19492030

US babies named Rustin per year, 1949 to 2025, with a projection to 2030

Rustin should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.

Steady+5% by 2030projected around #2,311 in 2030

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.

Rustin beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Rustin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Rustinthis name62#2258Sloan62#2258Kurt62#2258Jackie62#2258Abdallah62#2258

US boys given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • Bayard Rustin is a first-rate historical bearer.
  • Rusty is available as a warm short form with a real record.
  • Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
What to consider
  • It reads unmistakably as a surname.
  • Rustin and Austin are close enough to confuse.
  • The 'rustic' meaning is plain rather than elevated.

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Rustin

Masculine · #2258 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Rustins are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,700 people named Rustin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How do you spell Rustin?
Rustin is one of 2 recorded spellings. Rustyn is the more common one — 148 births in 2025 against 62 for Rustin.
How popular is the name Rustin in 2025?
Rustin ranks #2258 among US boy names in 2025, with 62 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Rustin?
About 1 in every 27,550 US boys born in 2025 was named Rustin — 62 in all.
Will my child share the name Rustin with classmates?
Rustin will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Rustin

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Sloan#2258 · Kurt#2258 · Jackie#2258 · Abdallah#2258 · Damion#2258 · Sahil#2258 · Clement#2258 · Genaro#2258

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rustin? See the current top 100.

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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