Russo

The origin of the surname Russo

Russo is the southern Italian form of Rossi, from “red.”

What kind of surname is Russo?

As a descriptive surname (or nickname name), the surname Russo arose from a personal characteristic — a physical trait, a quality of temperament, or a distinguishing feature of its first bearer. Communities have always coined nicknames, and in the age before fixed surnames these vivid, affectionate or teasing labels — referring to hair colour, stature, complexion or character — frequently became hereditary. Descriptive surnames give an unusually human glimpse of an ancestor, hinting at how they looked or how they were regarded by the people around them.

How Italian surnames work

Italian surnames are richly varied and often end in a vowel. Many are patronymic, sometimes marked by “di” or “De” (“son of / of the family of”), as in De Luca; others are occupational (Ferrari, “smith”), descriptive (Rossi, “red-haired”) or locational. Plural or “-i” endings frequently signal “the family of”, and regional dialects across Italy produced an enormous diversity of names.