Negus Family History
Negus Name Meaning
English: perhaps from an unrecorded Middle English personal name Nikecus Nikus (a pet fom of Nicol(e) male or female) + the hypcoristic suffix -cus. See Nick Nichol . In the modern form of this name the voicing of /k/ to /g/ may have been encouraged by false association with the word Negus meaning ‘emperor of Ethiopia’ (see 3 below) which appears first in 1594 and 1613 in East Anglian authors as neguz. Romanian (Neguş): from Neguş a diminutive of the personal name Neagu a short form of any of various South Slavic personal names composed of the element neg ‘to take care of to nurse’ e.g. Negomir (Romanian Neagomir). Ethiopian: from the personal name Negus meaning e.g. ‘king’ in the Amharic language. — Note: Since Ethiopians do not have hereditary surnames this name was registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022