Ridenour
A surname of Germanic origin, probably from a place-name meaning “at the red house” or a similar local landmark.
The #4,373 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 37,976 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ridenour is generally treated as a German surname that was reshaped in English spelling after immigration. It is likely related to a compound built from German elements meaning “red” and “house,” suggesting someone who lived by, or came from, a place called something like the red house. The exact original form is not fully certain, and different immigrant spellings may have converged on the modern U.S. surname.
History
The name is most familiar in the United States, where it appears among families of German-speaking background, especially in areas of early German settlement. Over time, English spelling and pronunciation likely regularized a number of similar immigrant forms into Ridenour. It is not among the most common German surnames in Europe, which supports the idea that the modern spelling is an Americanized form.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Ridenour is one of several surnames whose modern American spelling may preserve the sound of an older German name more clearly than its original written form does.