Rus Family History

Czech Slovak and Romanian (of Slavic origin): ethnic name for a Russian ultimately derived from an Old Norse term meaning ‘oarsman rower’ (from the root roths-) a reference to the fact that the Russian state was established by Scandinavians who rowed their ships up rivers inland from the Baltic sea. In some cases this may also be the origin of the Slovenian and Croatian surname.

Czech: descriptive nickname from the adjective rusý ‘blond’. Slovenian and Croatian: nickname for a red-haired man from rus ‘brownish red’. Compare Ros 6 and Russ 6 see also 1 above.

Spanish (mainly Jaén): habitational name from a place called Rus in Jaén based on Latin rus ‘countryside; village’.