Akai JapaneseFrom Japanese
赤 (aka) meaning "red" and
井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".
Couch CornishFrom Cornish
cough "red", indicating the original bearer had red hair.
Gough 1 WelshNickname for a red-haired person, from Welsh
coch "red".
Himura JapaneseFrom Japanese
緋 (hi) meaning "scarlet, dark red" and
村 (mura) meaning "town, village".
Leroux FrenchMeans
"the red", from Old French
ros "red". This was a nickname for a person with red hair.
Radcliff EnglishFrom various place names in England that mean "red cliff" in Old English.
Read 1 EnglishMeans
"red" from Middle English
read, probably denoting a person with red hair or complexion.
Roig CatalanMeans
"red" in Catalan, from Latin
rubeus, originally a nickname for a person with red hair or a red complexion.
Rojo SpanishMeans
"red" in Spanish, referring to the colour of the hair or complexion.
Rossi ItalianDerived from a nickname for a red-haired person, from Italian
rosso, Latin
russus meaning "red". This is the most common surname in Italy.
Rossini ItalianDiminutive form of
Rossi. A famous bearer was the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868).
Roth German, JewishFrom Middle High German
rot meaning
"red". It was originally a nickname for a person with red hair.
Rothenberg German, JewishFrom Middle High German
rot meaning "red" and
berg meaning "mountain". As a Jewish name it may be ornamental.
Rothschild JewishFrom Middle High German
rot "red" and
schilt "shield", or Yiddish
רויט (roit) and
שילד (shild). The famous Rothschild family of bankers took their name from a house with a red shield on it.
Rousseau FrenchDiminutive of
Roux. A famous bearer was the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) whose ideas influenced the French Revolution.
Roux FrenchDerived from Old French
ros meaning
"red", from Latin
russus, a nickname for a red-haired person.
Rubio SpanishNickname for a person with red hair, from Latin
rubeus "red".
Russell EnglishFrom a Norman French nickname that meant
"little red one", perhaps originally describing a person with red hair.
Scarlett EnglishDenoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet, a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian
سقرلاط (saqrelāṭ).
Vörös HungarianMeans
"red" in Hungarian, referring to a person with red hair or face.
Zhu ChineseFrom Chinese
朱 (zhū) meaning
"vermilion red, cinnabar" and also referring to the ancient state of Zhu, which existed in what is now Shandong province. This was the surname of the emperors of the Ming dynasty.