Rust Family History

Swiss German (also Rüst): topographic name for someone who lived by a prominent elm tree Rust (Old High German ruost) or in northern Germany for someone who lived by a resting place or halt along a route from Middle Low German ruste ‘rest’. German: habitational name from a place called Ruest in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.

German: from the rare personal name Rusto (from Old High German (h)rustan ‘prepare get ready (for military action)’. English, Scottish, and German: nickname for someone with red hair or a ruddy complexion from Old English rūst Middle Low German rust ‘rust’ (from an ancient Germanic root meaning ‘red’).

The term was also used figuratively for moral or spiritual corrosion in which sense it may also have been applied as a nickname. English and Scottish: sometimes from a shortened form of Russett.