Boys' name · peaked in 1979
Rusty name popularity since 1925
18,367 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Rusty (3.1% girls, 96.9% boys). Half of them were born in 1973 or earlier, so the typical Rusty is about 53 years old in 2026. Rusty peaked in 1979 as the #347 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 18,367
- Named Rusty, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,384 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 96.9% boys
- 565 girls · 17,802 boys
- Most popular in
- Oklahoma
- 3.34× its national share
Peak year is the year Rusty made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Rusty births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1961. Measured as a share of all babies, Rusty peaked in 1979.
- Fastest rise: Between 1951 and 1956, Rusty became 3.4× more common, from 1 in 16,400 baby boys to 1 in 4,870.
- Steepest fall: Between 1988 and 1993, its share of baby boys fell by 57%, from 1 in 5,600 to 1 in 13,100.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Rusty's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Rusty.
Decade by decade
Babies named Rusty in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 8 | – |
| 1930s | 16 | 41 | #2,909 |
| 1940s | 24 | 458 | #1,033 |
| 1950s | 95 | 2,956 | #409 |
| 1960s | 96 | 4,242 | #382 |
| 1970s | 194 | 3,647 | #403 |
| 1980s | 106 | 3,768 | #479 |
| 1990s | 26 | 1,472 | #986 |
| 2000s | 0 | 598 | #1,722 |
| 2010s | 0 | 377 | #2,674 |
| 2020–25 | 8 | 235 | #2,384 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
33.4% of babies named Rusty from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Rusty is most popular
The index compares Rusty's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Rusty.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | 3.34× | 632 |
| Louisiana | 2.58× | 671 |
| Kansas | 2.37× | 351 |
| Arkansas | 2.34× | 349 |
| Iowa | 2.26× | 416 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Rusty's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Rusty.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Rusty (1979).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data