This famous early German surname is pre medieval in origin, and derives from at least three possible sources. The first is as a nickname from the word "struz" meaning "to quarrel, and hence was given to a belligerent person, or perhaps given medieval humour, the reverse! The second is locational from a place called Straus, or residential from living at an inn or house called "The Ostrich". The third possibility is again a nickname, this time for somebody who habitually wore a hat with ostrich feathers. It is not clear what the precise meaning of the Ostrich was to the people of the Middle Ages, but it was probably an association with the magnificent plumage of the bird. The different spelling forms of the surname include the German-Austrian Strauss, Struss, Strauber, Strauberger, and Straus, the Flemish-Dutch (Van der) Struis, Struijs, Struys, and the Swedish Strutz. Examples of the surname recording include Conrad Strus of Mergentheim in the year 1269, and Johannes Strauber of Konstanz in 1319. In Holland later examples include Cornelia Struijs, married at Dordrecht, Nederlands, on September 1st 1630, and Johannes Struys, a witness at Rotterdam, on February 24th 1784. The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Henricus Strus, also spelt as Ztruz, of Schreiburg, Germany, in the year 1260. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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