Humanverse

Rush vs Rusty

American parents have registered 18,367 Rustys since 1880, against 3,450 Rushes. But in 2025 it was Rush that was commoner, 126 babies to 58.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Rush against Rusty, 1880 to 2025 0 150 300 450 600 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Rush Rusty

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 140 years in which either name was published, Rush for 75 years and Rusty for 65 years. The lead changed hands 2 times.

Side by side

  Rush Rusty
Total US births 3,45018,367
Most in one year 157576
Babies in 2025 12658
Estimated living today 2,40016,000
Median age today 1150
Peak year 20231961
Best rank 1,271st boys328th boys
Rank in 2025 1,425th2,363rd
First recorded 18801927
Girls / boys 12 / 3,438565 / 17,802

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Rustys alive today are over 50; half the Rushes are over 11. That is 39 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Rush and Rusty.