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Russ

#5,007 in 2025Boys' name

Short form of Russell

Russ has been given to 6,131 babies in the U.S. since 1898. In 2025 it ranked #5,007 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1959, with 350 recorded.

Babies named Russ, 2025

1 in 166,000

Russ over time, 1880–2025

Boys
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Russ: meaning, origin, and history

Short form of Russell

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Russ means

Russ is a short form of Russell.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Russ → Russell. The family’s meaning is “little red one”, recorded in the naming reference for Russell.

Origin, language, and formation

Russ is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Russell.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,131 boys were recorded with the name Russ between 1898 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 350 in 1959; its best national rank was #427 in 1959.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #5,411 in 2020 to #5,007 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #9,404 in 2015 to #5,007 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Russ?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 166,000
20 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 85,400
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#5,007
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
114,896 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Russ sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 114,896 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Russ. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Russs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Russ was born before 1961 — so the typical Russ is around 64 today.

Median birth year
1961
About 64 years old
Biggest decade
1960s
36.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
4.3%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
5,151
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1960s — 36.2% of all recorded uses (2,217).

Is Russ rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+1,401
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+404
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+4,397
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
2.50×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
5.7%
Peak was 1959 (350)
Years since peak
66
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
37.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#427
1959

Spellings of Russ

Russ is not the most common spelling — Luis is, with 48.9% against Russ's 1.0%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Russ is used

Across 1910–2025, Russ was most concentrated in Oregon — about 1 in 20,000 boys, against 1 in 50,863 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

05 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Oregon1 in 20,000
  2. 2Washington1 in 20,000
  3. 3California1 in 25,000
  4. 4Iowa1 in 33,333
  5. 5Michigan1 in 33,333
  6. 6Minnesota1 in 33,333
  7. 7Ohio1 in 33,333
  8. 8Wisconsin1 in 33,333

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Russ has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Russ around the world

Where Russ ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • Canada
    1991–2023
    #3,103
    in 2023
  • South Australia
    1946–1984
    #455
    in 1984

Popularity data from Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Russ

People whose public names include Russ, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Russ by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#5,007
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 404
Best rank ever
#427
1959
Peak year
1959
350 that year
First recorded
1898
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,131
Count in 2025
20

Names similar to Russ

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

RushRustyRustinRusselRustonRuslanRustynGussRushiRushilRustamRustenRussellRusbelRusellRushtonKyussRussoRushawnCyrussRushankRusRushabhRushon

Names with a curve like Russ

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Russ, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

RodTimmieLonnyLesRichTodChipMitchChuckToneyRobNicky

Sibling names for Russ

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Russ

Top names of 1959, Russ's peak yearThe 1950s in fullOther names that peaked in 1959Boys' names starting with R