Rudy
Usually a surname from a red-haired or ruddy nickname, though in some places it may also reflect a shortened form of another name.
The #4,969 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 43,676 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally linked to a nickname built on a word meaning “ruddy” or “red,” from the Germanic root behind English red and ruddy. In English surname tradition, Rudy can be a reduced or altered form of such a descriptive name. In some Continental German-speaking areas, similar forms may also reflect local name-shortening rather than a single fixed meaning.
History
The historical excerpts point to Rudy as a form found in German-speaking and Swiss contexts, and also connect it with the English nickname tradition of Ruddy. Because the spelling is short and flexible, it could arise independently in more than one place. In the United States, Rudy is also familiar as a given name and surname, which can blur the line between inherited surname and later nickname-style adoption.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname writers sometimes treated Rudy and Ruddy as near equivalents, showing how fluid spelling and pronunciation could be in older records.
From the historical record
“dieses auch auf der andern Seite des Rheines, im Elsaß, nicht selten ist^ man denke an Oberlin, Köchlin. Nach der Schweiz weisen einige Formen auf i wie Erni, Bläsi, Rudy (bisweilen verstärkt durch n: Lüttin, Wältin, Digitized by”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen