Bush
A masculine name of English origin meaning "a small wooded area".
Name Census estimates that about 17 living Americans carry the first name Bush. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bush today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bush births was 1915 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bush. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Bush. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
17
~ 1 in 20,162,020 Americans
Peak year
1915
11 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2003 SSA rank
#11,122
Tracked since 1889
Census
Bush in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 185 people with the first name Bush, which placed it at #40,305 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#40,305
National first-name rank
People counted
185
185 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
33.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bush
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bush is Asian/Pacific Islander at 33.5%. The next largest groups are White (31.9%) and Black (26.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bush described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bush at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander33.5% · 62
- White31.9% · 59
- Black or African American26.5% · 49
- Two or more races4.9% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Bush: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bush from the 1880s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 33 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bush by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bush during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bush
The given name Bush finds its origins in the Old English word "busc," which referred to a thicket or a shrub. It is believed to have been derived from the Proto-Germanic word "buskaz," meaning bush or shrub.
In the Middle Ages, the name Bush was commonly used as a descriptive surname, often given to those who lived near or worked with bushes or shrubs. Over time, it transitioned into a given name, especially in English-speaking regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bush can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The book mentions a landowner named Leofwine Bush, who held estates in Hertfordshire.
In the 14th century, a notable figure named John Bush was a prominent merchant and member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers in London. He was known for his philanthropic efforts and his support of various charitable causes.
During the 16th century, the name gained popularity among the Puritans, who often chose biblical or nature-inspired names for their children. One notable bearer of the name was John Bush, a Puritan minister and one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 1600s.
In the 18th century, George Bush, a renowned English theologian and Hebrew scholar, made significant contributions to the study of biblical texts. He was born in 1796 and passed away in 1859.
Another notable figure was Isadora Bush, an American artist and sculptor born in 1822. She is best known for her intricate woodcarvings and her works depicting Native American subjects.
In the 19th century, the name Bush gained further prominence with the birth of Vannevar Bush in 1890. He was an American engineer, inventor, and pioneer in the field of computer science, known for his work on analog computers and his visionary concepts for the future of information technology.
Throughout history, the name Bush has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including scholars, artists, religious figures, and pioneers. While its origins can be traced back to Old English, the name has endured and evolved, taking on new meanings and significance across different cultures and eras.
People
Bush + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bush as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bush: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bush?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bush going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 20,162,020 US residents.
Is Bush a common name?
We classify Bush as "Very Rare". It ranks above 37.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 80 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bush most popular?
The single biggest year for Bush was 1915, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bush is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bush in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 185 people with the name Bush, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,305 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bush in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bush?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bush leans strongly male. 169 people counted with this name were male (87.6%), compared with 24 female bearers (12.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bush?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bush is Asian/Pacific Islander at 33.5%. The next largest groups are White (31.9%) and Black (26.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bush most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Bush in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.5% (62 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bush in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bush a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bush in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Bush still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bush in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bush can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Bush as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.