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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • German : from a pet form of a personal name formed with Old High German hrōd ‘fame’, for example Rudolf or Rüdiger (see Rudiger).
  • German : from Middle High German rude, rü(e)de ‘hound’, probably applied as a nickname or as a metonymic occupational name for a keeper of hunting dogs.

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