Radcliff
A surname from places called Radcliffe, meaning “red cliff.”
The #6,489 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 59,011 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Radcliff is an English locational surname from one of several places named Radcliffe or Radcliff, built from Old English read, “red,” and clif, “cliff” or “steep slope.” The literal sense is “red cliff,” likely referring to a bank or outcrop of reddish rock. Some early forms were Latinized in medieval records, showing how place-names were adapted in official documents.
History
The name appears in medieval English records in several spellings, especially in northern England. Harrison notes a Radcliffe in Lancashire and connects the name to a “red cliff” by the River Irwell. Radcliff and Radcliffe are variant spellings of the same surname, and both have been borne by different local families.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One medieval Latin form of the name was de Rubra Clivo, literally “from the red cliff.”
From the historical record
“Cp. Rodbour'n(e. RADCLIFF ] (Eng.) Bel. to RadcUffe, Rad- RADCLIFFE klive = the Red Cliff [O.E. RADCLWeFE ) rie)dd + clif: W.Sax. charter dat. form ' t6 reddanclife ^ This name was Latinized de Rubra Clivo. RadcUffe, Lanes, is Radeclive in Domes- day-Book. The " cliff of red rock " is on the south-eastern side of…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)