ROUS. The O.Fr. rous, from Latin rufus, red, has originated the names Eous, Eouse, Rowse, and the diminutive Eowsell, whence also in many cases Eussell, although the last has sometimes a local source. The name occurs in the collection of names called the Roll of Battel Abbey, and there is no doubt of its early Norman origin. The cognate Leroux is still a common surname in Normandy. The ancestor of the family is said to have been Ealph le Eufus, or Eous, who came hither with the Conqueror. From him descended the noble family (Stradbroke) settled in Suffolk from temp. Edward III., and the Eouses of Cornwall and Devon. C. S. Gilbert's Cornwall. The senior line was Eons of Modbury, CO. Devon ; and the next branch, that of Edmerstou, sprang from Sir Eobert le Eous, a knight-banneret under Edward the Black Prince. B.L.G.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.