Russo is a common Southern Italian and Sicilian surname.

It is the Southern counterpart of Rossi and comes from a nickname indicating red hair or beard, from russo, russë and russu, from Late Latin russus or rubius, Classical Latin rubeus, "red".

[1][2] As of 2014, 61.5% of all known bearers of the surname Russo were residents of Italy (frequency 1:277), 18.6% of the United States (1:5,429), 5.1% of Argentina (1:2,347), 4.6% of Brazil (1:12,345), 1.1% of France (1:17,406) and 1.0% of Australia (1:6,667).

In Italy, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:277) in the following regions: In Argentina, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:2,347) in the following provinces: In the United States, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:5,429) in the following states: In Brazil, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:12,345) only in one state:[3]