Rode
A surname that can point to a road, a clearing, or—less certainly—a place-name lineage from medieval England.
The #9,648 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 91,807 Americans shares it.
Etymology
English Rode is usually treated as a locational surname, from a place-name or topographic term. In the sources here it is linked to Middle English rode, ultimately from Old English rād, meaning a road or riding, and also to a related sense of a clearing or cut-out place in woodland. Some 19th-century writers also connect it with names formed from Old Norse rjóðr or similar clearing-words in northern England.
History
The surname appears in English records in several spellings, including Rode, Road, and Royd/Royde in related local traditions. Lower notes a family claim from Gerard de Rodes, a medieval feudal baron, though he says the exact place-name source was uncertain. Harrison likewise treats Rode as a variant connected with Road(e), while some Yorkshire explanations tie it to woodland clearings.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older surname books, Rode is sometimes explained by reference to medieval forest clearings, especially in northern English place-names.
From the historical record
“ment -ey, 'island,' or -hay, -hey, 'enclosure.' RODE, V. Road(e. RODEN (Eng.) i Bel. to Roden ; or Dweller at I the Roe-Valley [O.E. rd, a roe -1- derm, a valley] 2 the Reedy Valley [O.E. hredd, a reed] ' aet Hrodene ' occurs in an A.-Sax. will (' Cart. Sax.' No. 1317). RODERICK (Teut.) Famous Ruler [O.Teut.…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)