Russell Family History

English, Scottish, and Irish: of Norman origin from Old French and Anglo-Norman French r(o)ussel, a diminutive of Old French rous(e) ‘red, reddish’, used either as a nickname for someone with red hair or a ruddy complexion or as a personal name. Compare Rouse. This Norman name has been established in Ireland since the 12th century. It has been reinforced in Britain and Ireland by Huguenot bearers of the name Roussel of the same Old French origin.

English: habitational name from any of several places called Rushall (Norfolk, Staffordshire, Wiltshire) or possibly sometimes from Rusthall in Speldhurst (Kent). Rushall in Staffordshire derives from Old English rysc ‘rush, rushes’ + halh ‘nook, corner of land’. Rushall in Norfolk derives from an uncertain first element + Old English halh.

Rushall in Wiltshire derives from an Old English personal name Rust (genitive Rustes) + halh. Rusthall in Speldhurst (Kent) probably derives from Old English rust ‘rust, rust color’ + wella ‘well, spring, stream’, but with a change in the final element due to influence from Middle English and Old English hall ‘hall, residence’, perhaps referring to a nearby building.

Americanized form of German Rüssel: from a pet form of any of various personal names formed with the ancient Germanic element hrōd ‘fame, renown’. In some cases also an Americanized form (actually an adoption of the name in 1 or 2 above) of French Racine.