Lusk
A surname that most likely comes from a place-name, especially the parish of Lusk in County Dublin.
The #2,803 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 24,033 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is usually treated as locational, taken from Lusk in County Dublin, Ireland. Some 19th-century writers also connected it with other place-names, and one older source proposed a Welsh or Gaelic explanation for a similar-looking form, but that looks less secure for the surname as used in English-speaking records. In practical terms, the surname likely began as a label for someone who came from Lusk or from a similarly named place.
History
The surname appears in Irish and British surname lists and is especially associated with Ireland in older reference works. Later genealogical materials also show it in Irish districts and in English-language surname indexes, suggesting that it spread through normal migration from place-based naming. Because it is a relatively uncommon surname, it often retains a strong local geographic flavor.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Lusk is also the name of a parish and village in north County Dublin, which is why the surname is commonly read as a place-name.
From the historical record
“LUSHER. (Dutch.) Lauscher, a hider, a skulker. LUSK or LOSCE. (Welsh.) A burning or searing. Gaelic, Loisg, to burn. LUTHER. The widely famed or celebrated, derived from the German loth or laut, loud, famed, fortunate, and er, honor — " fortune and honor" Lauter, Ger., bright, clear, pure. 188 ETYMOLOGICAL…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names