Updated June 9, 2019 Share: Family name origins & meanings English : occupational name for a player on the rote (see Root 2).English : nickname for an unscrupulous person, from Old French ro(u)tier ‘robber’, ‘highwayman’, ‘footpad’.Dutch : nickname from Middle Dutch rut(t)er ‘freebooter’, ‘footpad’, cognate with 2. Compare Reuter 2.