Rudisill
A Pennsylvania German surname likely linked to the Swiss place-name Rüdiswil/Riidiswyl.
The #9,836 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 93,844 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The best-known explanation connects Rudisill with the Swiss village name Rüdiswil (also rendered in older forms like Riidiswyl). In that reading, the surname is locational: it would originally have identified someone who came from that place. The place-name itself likely contains an old personal name element plus a settlement suffix, though the surname explanation is more secure than the deeper place-name analysis.
History
The name is especially associated with Pennsylvania German families, reflecting migration from German-speaking Europe to North America. The cited early-20th-century source treats the Swiss village connection as a likely explanation rather than a certainty, so the etymology should be regarded as probable but not proven. In American records the spelling has settled into Rudisill.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is a good example of how immigrant place-names often became Anglicized into a form that no longer looks obviously geographic.
From the historical record
“11 1 am inclined to think, however, that the Penn. Ger. Rudisill comes from village Riidiswyl, in Switzerland. 310 Studies in Pennsylvania German Family Names.”
— Studies in Pennsylvania German Family Names