Roderick
A surname from an old Germanic personal name meaning “famous ruler,” later also used for Irish and Welsh equivalents.
The #4,987 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 43,862 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Roderick comes from an old Germanic personal name built from elements meaning “fame” or “glory” and “ruler.” In medieval and later English usage, it was also used as an Anglicized form of the Irish Ruadhri / Ruaridh and the Welsh Rhydderch. As a surname, it is usually patronymic, arising from descent from or association with a man named Roderick.
History
The name appears in medieval records and was familiar enough in Britain to be used as a standard English rendering of several Celtic names. In Wales and Ireland, it often overlapped with native forms that were written as Roderick in English documents. The surname is not especially common, but it has persisted as both a family name and a given name.
Origin
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Fun fact
Older dictionaries explicitly glossed Roderick as “famous ruler,” a meaning that reflects the same name roots found in forms like Roderic and Rodric.
From the historical record
“(' Cart. Sax.' No. 1317). RODERICK (Teut.) Famous Ruler [O.Teut. Hruodric, Ruodric, Hr^rik, etc. (mod. Ger. Roderidi) — O.H.Ger. h)ruod- = O.Sax. *hrd^- = O.E. bra's- {hre^ = O.N. hr6^S-r, fame, glory, victory -f- a deriv. of O.Teut. n'fe-, a ruler, seen in O.Sax. riki = O.E. rica = Goth, reik-s, a ruler] This…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)