Rush
A surname with several possible roots, including a nickname linked to French ruse, and in some cases a place-name or rush-plant connection.
The #869 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,757 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Rush is not straightforwardly single-origin. One line of explanation in older surname books connects it with French ruse, meaning "cunning" or "artifice," suggesting a nickname for a sly or crafty person. Other evidence points to English place-names or local forms built from Old English rise, "rush" or rush plant, while Irish scholars also noted Rush as a name that may have been taken from English or Irish localities. Because these explanations do not fully agree, the name is best treated as having more than one possible source.
History
19th-century surname writers were divided over Rush: some placed it with names descended from Russ/Rouse, while others treated it as a local or topographic name. In England, it could be associated with places containing rushes or with parish names such as Rushall, Rushbrook, and Rushbury. In Ireland, the name was also discussed as potentially locational, rather than purely native Irish in origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older researchers even remarked that the Dublin place-name Rush was probably not the main source of the surname, showing how careful they were about not over-connecting a family name to a single place.
From the historical record
“RUSE = Rou8(e, q.v. RUSH (A.-Fr.-Lat.) for the French Rousse: v. Rous(e. (Eng.) not improb. also a contr. of one or other of the Rush- names. ,The county-Dublin place-name Rush, anc. Roseo, ' yew-treepeninsula ' [Ir. ros, a peninsula ; ed, a yevv-tree] (Joyce), will hardly have influenced this surname.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)