RavenelEnglish, French Habitational name from Ravenel in Oise or a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of horseradish, from a diminutive of Old French ravene ‘horseradish’ (Latin raphanus)... [more]
RavenhillEnglish From Rauenilde or Ravenild, medieval English forms of the Old Norse given name Hrafnhildr.
RavenscroftEnglish, English (British) Habitational name from a minor place in Cheshire, England. The place name means "Hræfn's croft", from an Old English personal name Hræfn (itself from Old English hræfn meaning "raven", possibly a byname) and Old English croft meaning "enclosed field".
RawlsEnglish From the Olde German and Anglo-Saxon personal name Rolf. Originally derived from the Norse-Viking pre 7th Century 'Hrolfr' meaning "Fame-Wolf".
ReachScottish, English Scottish: Nickname For Someone With Streaks Of Gray Or White Hair From Gaelic Riabhach ‘Brindled Grayish’. English And Scottish: Habitational Name From Either Of Two Places Called Reach In Bedfordshire And Cambridgeshire Recorded As Reche In Medieval Documents From Old English Rǣc ‘Raised Strip Of Land Or Other Linear Feature’ (In The Case Of The Cambridgeshire Name Specifically Referring To Devil's Dyke A Post-Roman Earthwork)... [more]
ReadingEnglish Habitational name from the county seat of Berkshire, which gets its name from Old English Readingas ‘people of Read(a)’, a byname meaning ‘red’. Topographic name for someone who lived in a clearing, an unattested Old English ryding.
RectorEnglish Status name for the director of an institution, in particular the head of a religious house or a college. Also an anglicized form of Richter.
ReddenEnglish Location name meaning "clearing or cleared woodland." Communities called Redden include one in Roxburghshire, Scotland and another in Somerset, England. A notable bearer is actor Billy Redden who played the dueling banjoist Lonnie in the 1972 film 'Deliverance.'
ReddickEnglish Habitational name from Redwick in Gloucestershire, named in Old English with hrēod "reeds" and wīc "outlying settlement".
ReddingEnglish, German, Dutch English variant spelling of Reading. In 1841 Redding was the most commonly used surname in all of Buckinghamshire. A famous bearer is Otis Redding.... [more]
ReddishEnglish This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Reddish,' a village near Stockport, Cheshire.
RedenbacherEnglish (American) The name "Redenbacher" appears to be a combination of two parts: "Reden" and "Bacher". Here's what I found about the meanings of these parts:... [more]
RedgraveEnglish From the name of a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England, derived from Old English hrēod meaning "reed" or rēad "red", and græf meaning "pit, ditch" or grāf "grove"... [more]
RedmanEnglish, Irish Variant of Raymond. Also a nickname for a person with red hair or a ruddy complexion, from Middle English rudde "red" and man "man".
RedmayneEnglish, Irish Derived from Redmain, a small hamlet in Cumbria, England. It is named with Old English rēad meaning "red" and Welsh main meaning "rock, stone". The name could also be derived from the given name Réamonn, which is an Irish form of Raymond... [more]
RedpathScottish, English Habitational name from a place in Berwickshire, probably so called from Old English read ‘red’ + pæð ‘path’. This name is also common in northeastern England.
RedwoodEnglish Name possibly derived from the colour of the bark of trees or the name of the town Reedworth between Durham and Devon
ReedusEnglish, Scottish An English and Scottish name of uncertain origin. Possibly a reduced form of English Redhouse, a habitational name from any of the numerous places named Redhouse, including over ninety farms.
ReidheadEnglish The origins of the Reidhead surname are uncertain. In some instances, it was no doubt derived from the Old English word "read," meaning "red," and was a nickname that came to be a surname. Either way, we may conclude that it meant "red-haired" or "ruddy complexioned."
RelphEnglish From the Old French male personal name Riulf, of Germanic origin and meaning literally "power-wolf" (cf. Riculf).
RenchEnglish 1. English: nickname from Middle English wrench 'trick, wile, deceit' (Old English wrenc), perhaps used for a deceitful person. ... [more]
RendallScottish, English Variant of Randall. Habitational name from Rendall in Orkney. Possibly also an Americanization of Swedish Rendahl.
RenleyJewish (Rare), English (Rare) Possibly derived from the Old English rinc "man, warrior" or rim 'edge, circular edge' or possibly wraenna 'wren', and leah "field, clearing".
RennEnglish (British) The surname Renn was first found in Durham where they held a family seat from early times, and were originally descended from Ralph de Raines who was granted lands by William, Duke of Albany in that shire... [more]
RennisonEnglish Patronymic surname meaning "son of Renard". Derived as a shortened form of Reynoldson from the Old French personal name Renart with the -son suffix... [more]
RenshawEnglish, Scottish A habitational surname from any of the so-called or like-sounding places in the United Kingdom. These include Renishaw in Derbyshire, Ramshaw in Durham, the lost Renshaw in Cheshire and Radshaw in Yorkshire... [more]
ReubensJewish, English Derived from the given name Reuben. This surname is borne by American comedian and actor Paul Reubens (1952-), who created and played the comic fictional character Pee-wee Herman.
RevellEnglish From a medieval nickname for someone who is full of noisy enthusiasm and energy (from Middle English revel "festivity, tumult").
RevelsAmerican from the surname Revel, a variant of Revell, a Middle English and Old French name referring to festivity
RevereEnglish, French, Judeo-Italian French: variant of Rivière, Rivoire, or Rivier, topographic name for someone living on the banks of a river, French rivier ‘bank’, or habitational name from any of the many places in France named with this word.... [more]
RhettEnglish, Dutch Anglicized form of Dutch de Raedt, derived from raet "advice, counsel".
RhineGerman, French, English, Irish A habitational name for an individual whom lived within close proximity of the River Rhine (see Rhein). The river name is derived from a Celtic word meaning 'to flow' (Welsh redan, 'flow').... [more]
RibchesterEnglish This name originates from the small village in Lancashire that shares the same name. Interestingly, most people with the name 'Ribchester' are in Lancashire, but a lot are also found in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
RichEnglish From a nickname of a wealthy person, ultimately derived from Germanic ric "powerful". A notable fictional bearer is Richie Rich who first appeared as a comic book character in 1953.
RichEnglish Derived from the name of a (former) village in Lincolnshire, England named with the Old English element ric "stream, drainage channel".
RichersEnglish, German From a Germanic personal name composed of the elements ric ‘power(ful)’ + hari, heri ‘army’. The name was introduced into England by the Normans in the form Richier, but was largely absorbed by the much more common Richard... [more]
RichmondEnglish Habitational name from any of the numerous places so named, in northern France as well as in England. These are named with the Old French elements riche "rich, splendid" and mont "hill"... [more]
RicketsonEnglish It was brought to England in the great wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. It comes from the Old German name Ricard, meaning "powerful" and "brave."
RideoutEnglish Means "outrider (a municipal or monastic official in the Middle Ages whose job was to ride around the country collecting dues and supervising manors)".
RidgewayEnglish Comes from Middle English 'riggewey', hence a topographic name for someone who lived by such a route or a habitational name from any of various places so named, for example in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, and Staffordshire.
RimesEnglish Originally denoted one who came from the city of Reims in the Grand Est region of France, or a topographic name for someone who lived in a thickly wooded area, derived from Old French ramel (a diminutive of raim) meaning "branch", ultimately from Latin ramus... [more]
RingerEnglish From the Norman name Reinger or Rainger derived from the Germanic elements ragin meaning "advice, counsel" and ger meaning "spear"... [more]
RiseboroughEnglish Denoted a person hailing from any of the various places called Risborough, Riseborough or Risbury in England, derived from Old English hrīs meaning "brushwood" and beorg meaning "hill, mound", or from hrīs and burh meaning "fortification"... [more]
RivetFrench, English French: from a diminutive of Old French rive ‘(river) bank’, ‘shore’ (see Rives).... [more]
RivettEnglish, French English (East Anglia): metonymic occupational name for a metalworker, from Middle English, Old French rivet ‘small nail or bolt’ (from Old French river ‘to fix or secure’, of unknown origin).... [more]
RobardsEnglish Altered form of Roberts. A famous bearer was American actor Jason Robards (1922-2000), as well as his father Jason Robards Sr. (1892-1963) and son Sam Robards (1961-), also noted actors.
RobertshawEnglish habitational name from a lost place Robertshaw in Heptonstall (Yorkshire) from the Middle English Old French personal name Robert and Middle English shaueshaghe "wood grove thicket" (Old English sceaga) meaning "Robert's wood".
RobyEnglish From a medieval diminutive form of the given name Robert.
RochesterEnglish Means "person from Rochester", Kent (probably "Roman town or fort called Rovi"). A fictional bearer of the surname is Mr Rochester, the Byronic hero of Charlotte Brontë's 'Jane Eyre' (1847).
RockEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived near a notable crag or outcrop, from Middle English rokke "rock" (see Roach), or a habitational name from a place named with this word, as for example Rock in Northumberland.
RockwellEnglish Means "person from Rockwell", Buckinghamshire and Somerset (respectively "wood frequented by rooks" and "well frequented by rooks"). Famous bearers include American illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) and Utah pioneer Porter Rockwell (1813-1878).
RoddEnglish Locational name for someone "at the rod" of land, from Middle English rodde. Also could come from the given name Rod, or the parish of Rodd in Herefordshire, England.
RodhamEnglish From Roddam in Northumberland. The name is thought to have derived from Germanic *rodum, meaning 'forest clearing'.
RodmanEnglish The surname Rodman is an ancient English surname, derived from a trade name, "men who were by the tenure or customs of their lands to ride with or for the lord of the manor about his business". The most famous bearer of this name is the basketball player Dennis Rodman.
RodwellEnglish Rodwell, a name of Anglo-Saxon origin, is a locational surname deriving from any one of various places in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Kent, England. In English, the meaning of the name Rodwell is "Lives by the spring near the road".
RoeEnglish Nickname for a timid person, derived from the Middle English ro meaning "roe"; also a midland and southern form of Ray.
RoffeyEnglish There are two small villages named "Roffey". One in England, near Horsham, and one in France, Burgundy. The name is of Norman orgin. First mentioned in (surviving English documents) in 1307 when a George Roffey buys a house... [more]
RollUpper German, German, English German: from Middle High German rolle, rulle ‘roll’, ‘list’, possibly applied as a metonymic occupational name for a scribe.... [more]
RollsEnglish Possibly derived from the Latin word rotus, meaning "wheel". It would indicate one who built wheels as a living. A famous bearer was American inventor and entrepreneur Charles Rolls (1877-1910), founder of the Rolls-Royce Ltd along with Henry Royce (1863-1933).
RolstonEnglish English habitational name from any of various places, such as Rowlston in Lincolnshire, Rolleston in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Staffordshire, or Rowlstone in Herefordshire, near the Welsh border... [more]
RondelliItalian, English, French From the medieval name "Rondello" derived from French "rondel" meaning "go around, round" or "rondel", a French old nickname for a round, plump man.