Bruce

Bruce is a Scottish surname adopted as a given name, derived from the Norman French place name Brus or Bruis, referring to a locality in Normandy, France, possibly connected to an Old Norse or Old French root meaning thicket or brushwood. The name gained enduring prominence through Robert the Bruce, the fourteenth-century Scottish king who secured Scottish independence at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Its widespread use as a first name in Scotland, Australia, and North America reflects the lasting prestige of that royal legacy. Variants and related forms include Bryce and the Scottish Gaelic Bruis.