Ratliff
An English surname usually understood as a spelling variant of Ratcliffe, ultimately from a place-name meaning “red cliff” or “roe deer cliff.”
The #1,168 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 10,263 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ratliff is generally treated as a variant form of Ratcliffe, a surname taken from one of several English places named with Old English ræt/raet or read/raed-like elements plus clif, meaning a cliff or steep bank. In surname use, the final element was often reduced in spelling and pronunciation, producing forms such as Ratliff. The exact local place behind any one family line may differ, but the name is broadly English and locational in origin.
History
The form appears in older records in several spellings, and 19th-century writers explicitly describe Ratliff as a corruption of Ratcliffe. In modern usage it is most familiar in English-speaking countries, especially the United States, where the spelling has become established as an independent surname form. Historical sources also show it alongside related forms such as Ratt and Rattey, reflecting the looseness of early surname spelling.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries often note that Ratliff and Ratcliffe were used interchangeably in historical records, so one family line may appear under both spellings.
From the historical record
“therham. RATLIFF. A corruption of Ratcliffe. RATTLEBAG. I know not whether this odd surname still exists. It is common in old records, as Eatellebagg. It is proba- bly synonymous with the O.-Fr. clarpieur, a leper or lazar, so called because he col- lected alms by means of a clarjvette. clack- dish, or…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom