The Rudge Surname
Here's what the Rudge surname means according to several different sources:
Single Origin: Geographical Feature
- "RUDGE (Eng) Der. from OE hrycg, meaning (dwl. on) 'a ridge'. In both Hertford and Devon ridge appears as rudge." (Brown, S. "Surnames are the Fossils of Speech" in Ewen, C. 1968. A History of Surnames of the British Isles. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, p. 270.)
- "Rudge/S Riggs/N a ridge" (Matthews, C. English Surnames. Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 342.)
- "RUDGE. A loc. n., Devon, Somers, Staffs, Wilts." (Barber, H. 1968. British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, p. 229.)
- "RUDGE township parish Pattingham Shrops pop 104" (Smith, F. 1968. A Genealogical Gazetteer of England. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, p. 441.)
- "RUDGE. An early member of this family was John de Rugge, of Seysdon, co. Strafford, who was living 17. Edward II. Shaw's Staffordshire. Rudge and Ridge appear to be identical in meaning. The surname is doubtlessly derived from a township in Shropshire so called." (Lower, M. 1967. A Dictionary of Family Names. New York: Heraldric Publishing Co., Inc., p. 296.)
- Related to these views on its origin, one source identifies the Rudges as being historically associated with four regions in Britain:
- GLOUCESTERSHIRE: "The RUDGES of Micheldean have resided in that locality since the 17th century (Bigl.). The name is now more numerous in Herefordshire and Worchestershire." (p. 441);
- HEREFORDSHIRE: "During the 17th and 18th centuries there were tradesmen of the name of RUDGE in Dean Michel, in the adjoining county of Gloucester (Bigland's Gloucestershire)." (p. 213);
- SOMERSETSHIRE: "The name of Rugg was represented six centuries ago by Le Rug and Le Rugge in Oxfordshire and Kent (H.R.). Ruegg is an occasional form of the name" (p. 354);
- WORCESTERSHIRE: "The family of RUDGE was well known in Evesham in the 17th century, and the Rudges have remained influential Evesham townsmen up to the present time; no less than five mayors bore the name of Rudge between 1661 and 1731, and of these four bore the Christian name of William (M. and T.)" (p. 406)
- "Rudge, Fr. rouge or dial. rudge, a ridge..." (Weekley, E. 1916. Surnames. London: HN Murray, p. 314.
- "Ridge, and its northern form Rigg with their compounds Doddridge, Langridge, Brownrigg, Hazelrigg, etc. Ridge, Rigg, also appear as Rudge, Rugg." (p. 109), "As an epithet applied to hair... Rudge, Fr. rouge" (p. 214) (Weekley, E. The Romance of Names. London: J. Murray.
- "Rudge English (W Midlands): 1. topographic name from West Midland ME rugge, a var. of rigge RIDGE, or habitation name from the village of Rudge in Shrops., which is named with this element. 2. from a medieval given name, a dim. of ROGER. 3. nickname for a person with red hair or a ruddy complexion, from OF r(o)uge red (L rubeus. Var. (of 3): Lerouge. Cogns. (of 3): Fr.: Rouge. Prov.: Rouy. Sp.: Rubio, Rubia ('blond'); Royo. Cat.: Roig. Port.: Ruivo. Dims. (of 3): Fr.: Rouget(et), Rougeau(x), Rougeot, Roujon, Roujou. Patr. (from 2) (dim.): Eng.: Ruggles." (Gold, D. (1988) A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 462.)
- "Rudge: (i) William de Rugge 1196 P (St). From Rudge (Glos, Salop). (ii) Walter de la Rugge 1243 AssSo; Alan atte Rugg 1296 SRSx; Geoffrey ate regge ib.; Roger othe Rugge 1327 SRWo. From residence near a ridge (OE hrycg). In ME this became rugge, regge, rigge in different dialects. Regge does not seem to have survived. For rigge v. RIDGE. Rudge is still used for ridge in Worcs where it is found in Rodge Hill. (iii) Roger Rugge 1195 P (D); Osbert le Rugg' 1275 RH (K); Gilbert Rougge 1377 AssEss. A Fr rug(g)e, Fr rouge 'red', i.e. 'red-haired'. cf. Rous." (Reaney, P. A Dictionary of British Surnames. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.)
- "RUDGE (Eng.) Dweller at a RIDGE or BACK [M.E. rugge, O.E. hrycg]; With a pak at his rugge.-Piers Plowman, 9346; (A.-Fr.-Lat.) RED, RED-HAIRED [A.-Fr. rug(g)e, Fr. rouge, L.-Lat. rubjus, Lat. rubeus, red]; Osbert le Rugge.-Hund. Rolls." (Harrison, H. 1969. Surnames of the United Kingdom. Baltimore, MD: The Genealogical Publishing Company, p. 127.)
Back to The Rudge Family PageLast updated on 6 Sep 1998