Rhone
A surname that likely began as a nickname or locational name connected with the River Rhône in France.
The #7,167 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 66,155 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Rhone is most plausibly a surname taken from the River Rhône, the great river of southeastern France. In older surname books, place and river names like Rhine and Rhone are often treated as ancient European names, sometimes linked loosely to Celtic roots meaning something like “to flow.” The surname could also have been used for someone who came from the Rhône valley or had some association with that region.
History
19th-century surname writers occasionally grouped Rhone with other river-based names and noted its European geographic character. The name appears in English-language surname lists and in continental German contexts, suggesting some spread through migration or local adoption rather than a single family line. Because the historical evidence here is mostly indirect, the exact route into surname use is not certain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The River Rhône is one of the major rivers of France, and its name has long been used by writers as a classic example of a European river-name surname.
From the historical record
“with, e.g., Wei. rhe, a swift motion, Gr. rhSB (Ma), to flow, run, gush ; and 'Rhine' and 'Rhone '] ^ RIBCHESTER. Bel. to Ribchester (N.Lancs), ' I2th cent. Ribbecestre, Domesday Ribel- castre = the (Roman) Camp on the Ribble [v. under Ribble, and -|- O.E. ceaster, Lat.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)