Russell also Rossell is a British name some writers claim to be derived from the Anglo-Norman nickname rus[s]el (Modern Norman patronymic Roussel). The nickname was said to be a diminutive of the Anglo-Norman rous for red (Old French ros).
The name may also refer to Clan Russell, a Scottish armigerous clan. Historian William Anderson has written that Scottish Russells from Aberdeenshire can trace their ancestry through local parish records, back to a baron Rosel who purchased estates at Aden in Aberdeenshire in 1333.
The alternative explanation is that the surname Russell originated from a Norman, Hugh de Rosel whose name appeared in the Falaise Roll as having accompanied William the Conqueror in 1066 and was rewarded with estates in the county of Dorset in England, afterwards known as Kingston-Russell and Berwick. His estate in Normandy was named after the nearby village of Rosel. (Mark Anthony Lower, Patronymica Britannica, 1860) According to Ancestry.com he was born in 1023 in Normandy, son of Guillaume Bertram de Bastembourg. The first appearance of the Russell form of the name on any official record was William Russell, son of a Ralph de Rosel whose name appears in the Winton Domesday Book of (1107-1128). The Lenton Register named William Russell as Ralph de Rosel's son. (J.H. Wiffen, The Time of the Norman Conquest)
The last recorded use of the de Rosel form of the name in England in any official document was in a charter by Alain Russell, who held the fief of the church of Donnington in Lincolnshire from his father Robert Russell. In 1258 Alain Russell made a charter bestowing the church of St. Stephen at Plessis-Grimault in the Calvados area of France to the local parish, in which he named himself Alain de Rosel, showing that he continued to use the older de Rosel form of the name when in France. (J.H. Wiffen, The Time of the Norman Conquest) The Subsidy Roll carried out in 1327 lists 22 land owners named Russell with estates large enough to be taxed, but no one named de Rosel, showing that by 1327 the older de Rosel form of the name was no longer widely used in England.
While there appears to be solid documentary evidence for the de Rosel origin of the surname Russell, the alternative proposed origin, 'rus' or 'rous' meaning red, seems to be based mainly on conjecture by various authors. Census records of England and Wales show a very uneven nationwide distribution of the name with areas of high density and wide areas of very low density, which points to a single family origin.
History and philosophy
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), historian, philosopher, logician
Jeffrey Burton Russell (born 1934), historian and religious scholar
Josiah Cox Russell, historian and demographer
Art and literature
Alexei Maxim Russell, Canadian writer
Cobie Russell, American artist
Conrad Russell (1878–1947), English letter writer
Craig Russell (British author)
Eric Frank Russell (1905–1978), British author
Mary Doria Russell (born 1950), American author
P. Craig Russell (born 1951), American comic book writer, artist, and illustrator
Sean Russell (author) (born 1952), Canadian fantasy author
Shirley Ximena Hopper Russell (1886–1985), American artist
Ted Russell (Canadian politician) (1904–1977), Newfoundland and Labrador writer
Edwin Wensley Russell (1830–1915), London artist
Thomas J. Russell, American abstract artist
Drama, radio, television, and film
Anna Russell (1911–2006), English–Canadian singer and comedian
Betsy Russell (born 1963), American actress
Bing Russell (1926–2003), American actor
David O. Russell (born 1958), American film director
Gail Russell (1924–1961), American actress
Jane Russell (1921–2011), American actress
Ken Russell (1927–2011), British film director
Keri Russell (born 1976), American actress
Kurt Russell (born 1951), American actor
Lillian Russell (Helen Louise Leonard, 1860/1861–1922), American vaudeville actress and singer
Lucy Russell (born 1972), British actress
Lynne Russell (born 1946), radio host and former CNN news anchorwoman
Mark Russell (born 1932), American comedian
Nipsey Russell (1918–2005), American comedian
Rosalind Russell (1907–1976), American actress
Theresa Russell (born 1957), American actress
Calvin Russell (musician) (1948–2011), American singer-songwriter and guitarist
Kevin Russell (born 1964), German singer (Böhse Onkelz)
Larry Russell (1913–1954), American motion picture composer
Larry Russell (bassist) (born 1950), American rock musician
Leon Russell (1942–2016), American musician and songwriter
Leroy "Junior" Russell, known as Tommy Lee Sparta (born 1987), Jamaican dancehall
Luis Russell (1902–1963), Panamanian jazz pianist
Pee Wee Russell (1906–1969), American jazz musician
Welford Russell (1900–1975), Canadian composer
Tom Russell (born 1949), American singer-songwriter
Military and politics
Addie Jenne Russell, New York State assemblywoman
Daniel Lindsay Russell (1845–1908), American politician
Dudley Russell (1896–1978), British Indian Army general in World War II
Ebenezer Russell (1747–1836), New York politician
Henry P. Russell (1878–1956), American Medal of Honor recipient
Jeremiah Russell (1786–1867), American politician
Jeremiah Russell (Minnesota) (1809–1885), American territorial legislator
Lee M. Russell (1875–1943), Mississippi politician
Newton Russell (1927–2013), California politician
Samuel Russell (1789–1862), American trader in China
Seán Russell (1893–1940), Irish republican
John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford (c.1485–1555), Tudor statesman
Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford (c.1527–1585)
Anne Russell, Countess of Warwick (1548 or 1549–1604), a daughter of the 2nd Earl
Edward Russell, 3rd Earl of Bedford (1572–1627)
Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford (1580–1627), wife of the 3rd Earl
Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford (1593–1641)
William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford (1613–1700), formerly 5th Earl of Bedford
William Russell, Lord Russell (1638–1683), son of the 1st Duke and father of the 2nd; executed for treason for his involvement in the Rye House Plot
Rachel Russell, Lady Russell otherwise Lady Rachel Wriothesley (c.1636–1723), wife of William Russell, Lord Russell
Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford (1653–1727), a grandson of the 4th Earl of Bedford; First Lord of the Admiralty under King William
Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford (1680–1711)
Wriothesley Russell, 3rd Duke of Bedford (1708–1732)
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford (1710–1771)
Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock (1739–1767), son of the 4th Duke and father of the 5th and 6th Dukes
Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford (1765–1802)
John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford (1766–1839), popular English politician under his earlier title, Lord John Russell
Lord William Russell (1767–1840), posthumous son of Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock, and brother of the 5th and 6th Dukes of Bedford; murdered by his valet
Francis Russell, 7th Duke of Bedford (1788–1861)
Lord George Russell (1790–1846), son of the 6th Duke of Bedford and father of the 9th; English soldier and diplomat
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (1792–1878), English Whig and Liberal politician; Prime Minister
Lady William Russell otherwise Elizabeth Rawdon (1793–1874), wife of Lord George Russell
William Russell, 8th Duke of Bedford (1809–1872)
Francis Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford (1819–1891)
Odo Russell, 1st Baron Ampthill (1829–1884), British diplomat
John Russell, Viscount Amberley (1842–1876), eldest son of John Russell, 1st Earl Russell; father of Bertrand Russell
George Russell, 10th Duke of Bedford (1852–1893)
Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford (1858–1940)
Frank Russell, 2nd Earl Russell (1865–1931)
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), British mathematician and philosopher (Russell's paradox); 3rd Earl Russell
Hastings Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford (1888–1953), pacifist
Ian Russell, 13th Duke of Bedford (1917–2002)
John Russell, 4th Earl Russell (1921–1987)
Conrad Russell, 5th Earl Russell (1937–2004)
Robin Russell, 14th Duke of Bedford (1940–2003)
Andrew Russell, 15th Duke of Bedford (born 1962)
Nicholas Russell, 6th Earl Russell (1968–2014)
John Russell, 7th Earl Russell (born 1971)
Science and technology
Sir Arthur Russell, 6th Baronet (1878–1964), mineralogist
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), historian, philosopher, logician
Findlay E. Russell (1919–2011), American physician and toxicologist
Gerald Russell (born 1928), psychiatrist who described first bulimia nervosa
Harry Luman Russell (1866–1954), American bacteriologist
Henry Norris Russell (1877–1957), American astronomer (Hertzsprung-Russell diagram also called HR diagram)
John Scott Russell (1808–1882), Scottish naval engineer credited with discovering the theory of waves
Katheryn Russell-Brown (born 1961), criminologist
Patrick Russell (1726–1805), Scottish herpetologist
Steve Russell (computer scientist) (born 1937), computer scientist famous for creating Spacewar!
Stuart J. Russell (born 1962), computer scientist
Walter Russell (1871–1963), scientist, artist, and author
Edward Stuart Russell (1887–1954), biologist and philosopher of biology
Sports and recreation
Andre Russell (born 1988), West Indies cricketer
Ayanna Russell (born 1988), Trinidadian footballer
Barry Russell, Australian rugby league footballer
Bill Russell (born 1934), NBA player
Calvin Russell (American football) (born 1983), NFL player
Carolyn Russell (born 1974), Canadian squash player
Chris Russell (born 1989), English cricketer
Clarence W. Russell, American college sports coach
D'Angelo Russell (born 1996), NBA player
Damien Russell (born 1970), American football player
Erk Russell (1926–2006), American athlete and coach
Jack Russell (cricketer, born 1963)
JaMarcus Russell (born 1985), NFL player
Jeff Russell (born 1961), MLB player and manager
Jordan Russell (born 1986), Australian rules footballer
Kane Russell (born 1992), New Zealand field hockey player
Kris Russell (born 1987), Canadian ice hockey player
Lloyd Russell (1913–1968), American athlete and college sports coach
Mickey Russell, American football player
Moses Russell (1888–1946), Welsh international footballer
Reb Russell (1889–1973), MLB player
Rip Russell (1915–1976), MLB player
Simon Russell (footballer) (born 1985), English footballer
Vaughan Russell, Scottish footballer
Russell (surname) Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
