Updated June 9, 2019 Share: Family name origins & meanings English : nickname from Middle English cr(o)us(e) ‘bold’, ‘fierce’.English (of Norman origin) : habitational name from a place in France, perhaps Cruys-Staëte in Nord, apparently named with a Gaulish word crodiu ‘hard’.German : northern variant of Krause.Americanized spelling of German Kruse.