Updated June 9, 2019

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Family name origins & meanings

  • German : from a short form of any of the various Germanic personal names with the first element hrōd ‘renown’. Compare Robert, Rudiger.
  • North German, Danish, and English : topographic name for someone who lived on land cleared for cultivation or in a clearing in woodland, from Middle Low German rode, Danish rothe, Old English rod. Compare English Rhodes.
  • English : habitational name from any of the many places named with this word, as for example Rode in Cheshire.
  • Slovenian : topographic name from the adjective rod ‘barren’, denoting someone who lived on a barren land.
  • Slovenian : nickname from the Slovenian dialect word rode ‘person with disheveled hair’, a derivative of rod ‘curly’ or ‘hairy’.