Rush Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Rush last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Rush last name
Meaning of the Rush last name: dweller among rushes. The Rush surname is English, for someone who lived where rushes grew or who gathered and sold them. Rushes mattered in daily life, being strewn on floors, used for thatch and dipped in fat to make rushlights. The last name is most common in East Anglia. A curious detail of this family name meaning: a Philadelphia doctor named Benjamin Rush signed the Declaration of Independence.
Arms associated with the Rush name
In English heraldry a coat of arms belonged to one person at a time, so different Rush lines used their own versions, each set out in a blazon, the formal heraldic description.
Get your full Rush family history
This is only a glimpse of the Rush story. The full Rush history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Rush coat of arms. Get the full Rush report.
Rush name FAQ
What does the Rush name mean?
Dweller among rushes. Common variants include Rushe, Rysh.
Where does the Rush surname come from?
It originates in England, and is also found in the United States, Ireland and Australia.
Is there a Rush coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Rush coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: Reaney & Wilson, Dictionary of English Surnames; Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford); MacLysaght, The Surnames of Ireland.