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 R Surnames Family History Resources

Surnames, their origin and their meaning

Many surnames are associated with the place/locality of where the family lived and in those cases the location is noted as the meaning.
Many surnames are associated with the occupation of the person given the name.

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Surname		Origin	Meaning
Radcliff		Locality	A place in Lancashire, England
Radford		Cornish-British	The fern way
Radland		Cornish-British	The fern land
Radnor		Cornish-British	The enclosure of ferns
Raffles			From Raefel, long-lubber, lath-back, inactive, sluggish
Rainsford		Locality	Ravensford
Raleigh			Rhawlaw, in the Welsh, signifies a lieutenant, a vicar
Ralph			Saxon From Rad, counsel, and ulph, help
Ralston			Ralphstown in Renfrewshire
Ramage			Branches of trees
Ramirez		Spanish	patronymic from the personal name Ramiro
Ramos		Spanish	someone who lived in a thickly wooded area
Ramsden		Saxon Locality	The winding valley, or the extremity of the valley
Ramsey		Locality	Ram's Isle, a place in Huntingdonshire, England
Ran		Saxon	Pure, clear.
Randal		Saxon	Fair-help, from Ran, fair, and ulph, help
Rander		Gaelic-Welsh	A tract of land on a point or promontory
Randolph		Saxon	Fair-help, from Ran, fair, and ulph, help
Randulph		Saxon	Fair-help, from Ran, fair, and ulph, help
Rankin			Danish Rank, right, upright, erect
Ranney		Locality	Renaix, Reinow, or Renais, a town of Switzerland
Ransom			The price paid for redemption from captivity or punishment
Ransome			The price paid for redemption from captivity or punishment
Rapp			Rap, in Danish, is swift, nimble
Rawdon		Locality	Royden, near Leeds, in Yorkshire, England
Rawley		Welsh	Rhawlaw, a vicar
Rawlings			Ralphs son
Rawlinson			son of Rawlings
Rawson			Ravenson
Ray		Dutch	Roemur, one who extols, praises, boasts
Raymer		Dutch	Roemur, one who extols, praises, boasts
Raymond		Teutonic	From Rein, pure, and mund, mouth; pure mouth, one who abstains from wanton discourses
Rayner		Danish	Raner, a leader of the Danes
Read			Rede, advice, counsel, help, or from the fenny plant, a reed
Record			Rikerd, or Richard
Redden		Cornish-British	A place of ferns
Reddenhurst		Locality	Reddon, Cornish British, fern, and hurst, Saxon, a wood or grove
Reed		Saxon	From Rede, advice, counsel, help, or from the fenny plant, a reed
Reese		Cornish-British	Pushing, violent; a strong or powerful man
Reeves			From Reeve, a bailiff, provost, or steward
Reid		Scottish	person with red hair or a ruddy complexion
Reilly		Irish	descendant of Raghailleach
Reinard		Teutonic-Saxon	From Rein, pure, and ard, nature, disposition
Reinhart		Dutch	A pure heart
Renard		French	A fox, cunning
Retz		Locality	A town in Moravia
Reyes		French	king from Latin rex
Reynard		Teutonic-Saxon	From Rein, pure, and ard, nature, disposition
Reynolds		Saxon	Sincere or pure love from, Rhein, pure, and hold, the old English for love
Reynoldson		Saxon	son of Reynolds
Rheese		Cornish-British	Pushing, violent; a strong or powerful man
Rhefeldt		Dutch	deer-field
Rhodes		Locality	island of Rhodes, in the Mediterranean Sea
Rian		Gaelic	manner, order, arrangement, sobriety, good disposition
Ricard			Of a powerful, rich, or generous disposition
Rice		Welsh	Rys
Rich			Wealthy, opulent; anciently, great, noble, powerful
Richard			Of a powerful, rich, or generous disposition
Richardson			son of Richard
Richmond		Saxon	rich-mouth; figuratively, eloquent
Ricketts			Ricards
Riddell		Locality	From lands in the county of Yorkshire, formerly called the Ryedales
Ridder			Ruyter
Riggs		Danish	wealthy, rich
Ring		Dutch	A Canton; a district of an ecclesiastical congregation
Ringe		Danish	Mean, low, small, little
Ringgold		Welsh	Rhingol, a cleft, cliff, or steep bank
Rios		Spanish	habitational name from any of the places called Ríos, predominantly in Galicia
Ripley		Locality	A market-town in west Yorkshire, England
Ritchie		Scottish	Richard
Ritter			Ruyter, a knight, a chevalier
Rivera		Spanish	any of the places named Rivera
Roberts		Saxon	From Rod, counsel, and bert or bericht, bright or famous
Robertson		Scottish	son of Robert
Robinson			Son of Robbin
Roby		Danish	From Ro, rest, repose, and by, a town--the peaceful town
Rochester		Locality	city in Kent, England
Rochfort		Locality	town of France
Rodden		Cornish-British	A place of ferns
Rodland		Saxon	Counsel for the land
Rodriguez		Spanish	son of Rodrigo
Roe		Gaelic	Red-haired
Roemer		Dutch	From Roem, glory, renown; a praiser, a boaster
Roger		Teutonic	Rhu, rest, quiet, peace, and gard, a keeper
Roland		Saxon	Counsel for the land
Rollin		Saxon	Counsel for the land
Romaine			Roman
Romanno		Locality	lands in the county of Peebles, Scotland
Romero		Spanish	pilgrim to Rome
Roof			Reeve
Roorback		Dutch	A town in Bavaria, Germany
Root		Locality	A place lying low
Roschild			a town in Denmark
Rose		Scottish	a place with wild roses
Rosencrans		Danish	Rosenkrands, a garland of roses
Roseveldt		Dutch	field of roses
Ross		Scottish	A shire of Scotland
Roswell			Rosveldt, the rose-field
Roth		German	Red color
Rothschild			a town in Denmark
Rouse		French	red-haired
Rousseau		French	reddish hair
Roux		French	someone with red hair
Rowe		Locality	A river that overflows its banks
Rowel		Locality	the river Rouel, in the Netherlands
Rowen		Locality	a tree, the mountain-ash
Rowle		Cornish-British	Rule, order, law
Rowley		Saxon	From Row, sweet or pleasant, and ley, a field
Rowntree			mountain-ash
Roy		Gaelic	red-haired
Rue		Locality	Reaux, in Hainault, Netherlands
Rufus		French	Red
Ruggles		Locality	A town of France
Ruiz		Spanish	son of Ruy
Rundell			Arundle
Runnion		Gaelic	A small hill
Runon		Gaelic	A small hill.
Rusbridge		Locality	town of Rousbrugge, in Germany
Russ			Russian
Russell		Scottish	Red-haired
Russey		Locality	A town in Doubs, France
Rutgers		Dutch	one desirous of rest, a keeper of rest
Rutherford		Locality	the lands of Rutherford on the river Tweed, in the parish of Maxton, Roxburgshire, Scotland
Ruthven			the lands and barony of Ruthven, in Perthshire, Scotland
Ruyter			A knight or chevalier
Ryan		Irish	Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Riagháin
Ryder			A forest officer, being mounted
Rye		French	From Rive, a coast, a shore, a bank, border
Rynders		Locality	A town in North Jutland

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