Variant of Russell, from Old French 'rousel' meaning little red-haired one.
Russel — whether spelled with one or two L's — descends from the Norman French roussel, a diminutive of roux, meaning "red" or "reddish," referring originally to someone with red hair or a ruddy complexion. The Normans who arrived in England with William the Conqueror in 1066 brought this descriptive surname with them, and it took root in English soil as both a place name and a family name across the following centuries. The surname Russell became associated with one of England's most prominent aristocratic dynasties: the Earls and Dukes of Bedford, whose family motto — Che sarà sarà, "what will be will be" — was later immortalized in popular song.
The name's most intellectually illustrious bearer was Bertrand Russell, the third Earl Russell, the British philosopher, mathematician, and Nobel laureate whose work in mathematical logic, epistemology, and pacifism shaped the twentieth century. Russell's willingness to be imprisoned for his anti-war convictions, his championing of civil liberties, and his extraordinarily prolific writing made him a figure of enormous public profile — and gave the name an association with rigorous, principled intelligence. In America, the name moved into given-name use in the nineteenth century, where it thrived as a sturdy, unpretentious masculine choice.
The single-L spelling Russel is the older, continental variant, slightly rarer and carrying a faint medieval fragrance. It shares its color-root heritage with names like Roux, Rufus, and the Irish Riordan — a quiet family of names that encoded a physical characteristic so memorable it became an identity. Today Russel sits in that comfortable middle distance: not fashionable, not forgotten, simply solid and well-made.