Given name & surname · also Latin, Old French
Russell
“a little red-haired boy”
Russell is used as a given name and a surname. One French interpretation is “a little red-haired boy.”
Original FrenchRousseau
Meaning & origin
What it means
One French interpretation is “a little red-haired boy.”
Where it comes from
This spelling has been associated with Old French and Latin naming traditions.
How it developed
From Middle English Russel, from Anglo-Norman Russel.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Russell through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 361,476
- 359,780 boys · 1,696 girls
- Most popular year
- 1960
- 7,510 babies
- 2025
- 944
- #345 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +11%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 944 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 345 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 11.4% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 7,487 in 1960. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (86). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 202,735 as a first name in 2020; 211,729 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Russell’s family of names
In English usage, Russell has a diminutive in Russ. In English usage, Russell as a surname shares a linguistic root with the French form Rousseau. Russell has a related form in Russel.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Russell has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
5 related names in 4 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 8
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Russell
- Russell CroweNew Zealand actorborn 1964
- Russell Alan HulseAmerican astronomerborn 1950
- Russell WestbrookAmerican basketball player (born 1988)
- Russell BrandEnglish comedian, actor, and podcaster (born 1975)
- Ol' Dirty BastardAmerican rapper (1968–2004)
- Rusty SchweickartAmerican astronautborn 1935
- Russell ToveyBritish actorborn 1981
- Russell MeansOglala Lakota activist for the rights of Native American people (1939-2012)
- Russell PetersCanadian comedian, actorborn 1970
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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