Rushton
A place-based surname meaning “at the rushy enclosure” or “rushy settlement.”
The #7,609 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 70,667 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Rushton is a locational surname from one of several English places called Rushton. The name is usually explained from Old English rysc or rise, meaning “rush,” plus tūn, meaning “enclosure,” “farm,” or “settlement” — in other words, a place where rushes grew. A related early form in a charter of 854 is sometimes linked with the Somerset place now called Ruishton.
History
The surname appears in different parts of England because there were multiple Rushtons, including places in Northamptonshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Dorset, and elsewhere. Medieval and later records show both Rushton and the related spelling Rishton, reflecting local spelling variation before forms stabilized. It spread as a typical English habitational surname, adopted by people who moved away from their home village.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root appears in other English surnames and place-names that describe rush-covered ground, not a family trade.
From the historical record
“rush -I- mdr, a moor] RUSHTON (Eng.) Bel. to Rushton = the Rushy Enclosure [O.E. rysc, rise, a rush -f- tun, an enclosure] Cp. Rishton. The RisctUn of a charter, a.d. 854, by ^}>elwulf, king of the West Saxons, re- fers to Ruishton, Somerset. RUSHWORTH (Eng.) Bel. to Rushworth = the Rushy Enclosure [O.E. rysc, a rush”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)