Eldridge
An English surname with several proposed roots, most often linked to a medieval form of Aldrich or to a word meaning eerie or ghostly.
The #1,402 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 12,204 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is usually treated as an English name, but its exact origin is not settled. One common explanation is that it developed as a spelling variant of Aldridge/Aldrich, with the initial vowel shifting over time. Another explanation connects it with a medieval word meaning "wild," "ghastly," or "uninhabited except by spectres," a sense reflected in older phrases like "eldridge knight."
History
Nineteenth-century surname writers disagreed about whether the name was local or descriptive, and some treated it as a variant spelling of Aldridge. The name is recorded in London in the early 1600s, showing that it was established in England by the early modern period. Later it spread to the English-speaking world, including the United States, where it is now a moderately uncommon surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old ballads used the phrase "eldridge knight" for a spooky or uncanny figure, which helped later writers connect the surname with a ghostly meaning.
From the historical record
“appellation. ELDRIDGE. Perhaps local. Eldndge, clriche, or elrltch, is, however, a medieval Avord signifying "wild, hideous, ghastly, lonesome, uninhabited except by spectres." Gloss, to Percy's Reliques, edit. 1839. In the ballad of Sir Cauline is a description of an " eldridge knight." The fair Chris- tabelle…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom