Frequency: (120)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Slovenian: nickname from the name of a mythological being, Pust, folk patron of Shrovetide, hence probably denoting someone born between the end of Christmas and the start of Lent. The name Pust is a shortened form of the obsolete word mesopust, from meso ‘meat’ and pust ‘abstain’, meaning ‘abstainer from meat’, ‘vegetarian’.
2. German: variant of Pfaus (see Paus), or a topographic name from Sorbian pusty ‘wild’, ‘uncultivated’ (land).
GIVEN NAMES: German 7%. Elfriede, Guenter.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
