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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Polish, Ukrainian, Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic), and Belorussian : ethnic or regional name from Polish rusak ‘Ukrainian’, eastern Slavic rusak ‘Russian’. The name derives ultimately from a Scandinavian term meaning ‘rower’, ‘oarsman’, the Russian state having been first established in the 9th century by Varangian (i.e. Norse) settlers who rowed up the rivers from the Baltic.
  • Polish, Ukrainian, Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic), and Belorussian : nickname from an eastern Slavic word meaning ‘light brown’, with allusion to the coloring of hair or skin (compare Polish rusy, Ukrainian and Russian rusyj).
  • Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic) : habitational name from Rusaki, in Belarus.

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