# Russell (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/russell/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English, Scottish and Irish surname transferred from the nickname from the Norman nickname for someone with red hair.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Norman |
| Type | nickname, from a description or nickname of an ancestor |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 221,558 |
| US rank (2010) | 104 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 1,394 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.8% (215,432 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɹʌsəl/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Roussel, Rowsell, Russel |

## Etymology

Inherited from Middle English Russel, from Anglo-Norman Russel. Doublet of Rousseau/Roussel. Equivalent to russel.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Russell in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 77% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 17% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.1% |
| Two or more races | 2.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Russell in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and The Bahamas.

## People named Russell

- Kurt Russell, American actor (born 1951)
- Bill Russell, American basketball player (1934–2022)
- Jane Russell, American actress (1921–2011)
- Rosalind Russell, American actress (1907–1976)
- Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer (1877–1957)
- David O. Russell, American film director, screenwriter and producer
- Keri Russell, American actress
- Theresa Russell, American actress
- Wyatt Russell, American actor
- D'Angelo Russell, American basketball player (born 1996)
- Leon Russell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist and session musician
- Masai Russell, American sprinter and hurdler (born 2000)

and 96 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Russel, Roussel, Roselli, Rosell, Roussell, Rossell, Roswell, Rockwell, Rackley, Riggle, Riegel, Risley.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.