And furthermore how does language play a part – I know red (rojas/rossi) is a Spanish and Italian surname but not English
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Color surnames in English are most commonly derived from physical traits such as hair color, complexion, or clothing.
Gingers and ruddy faced people were most likely to be called Red (aka Redd, still in common use) since red clothing in the Middle Ages were a sign of wealth and status, and those folks already had a distinctive family lineage and didn’t need a made up name. By the way, Russell is also tied to the color red, and is quite common.
Blue hair doesn’t really exist, and blue-dyed clothing would have also been an expensive luxury out of the reach of commoners.
Yellow is the interesting one since you’d think anyone blonde would be called it. But they were probably called white. Remember, silver and gray were also used referring to hair colors as well. So really, anyone pale could be a white. And anyone Dark could be a black. And again, no bright yellow clothes for commoners.
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