In England, Wales and Ireland the name Bruce means: Briar patch--Thicket (as in rough patch of woods) and also: Lord of the Woods. This info comes from entries by my Irish-Welsh great grand parents about my first name.
The name always makes me think of really idiotic men who like to act tough and manly. It doesn't have a pleasant sound to it anyway. Come on, it's pronounced like 'bruise'. And it's the middle name of that moron Eminem.
My name is Bruce, I'm no better or stronger than any other, a name is a name, you are who you are, I'm an asshole, a good person, a bad lover, a good lover, I'm like everyone else but with my own name, they could have called me Sue!
I don't really like the look or sound of it but I have a huge soft spot for the name Bruce because I love Bruce Springsteen and I was a big fan of Bruce Willis when I was younger. I consider Bruce a very manly name, almost macho.
Reminds me of a bruise. It's also one of those names that I can't picture on men under 40 (of course, they were kids once too, but it still sounds odd on young boys).
The name of the town may come from bruscia, a Vulgar Latin word meaning "brush", which is ultimately from bhreus, a Proto-Indo-European word meaning "sprout".