Ryder
A surname usually understood as an English occupational name for a mounted messenger or horseman, though some instances may also reflect the older name Rider.
The #2,544 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 21,700 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ryder is generally treated as a spelling variant of Rider. The surname comes from Middle English rider, from Old English ridere, meaning someone who rides a horse, especially a mounted messenger or horseman. In some historical surname traditions, the spelling with y became established even when the meaning remained the same.
History
19th-century surname dictionaries usually place Ryder under Rider rather than treating it as a separate origin. The form appears in English records from the medieval period onward, and it later spread to Ireland and North America through migration and anglicisation. Some families with similar-looking Irish names were also sometimes rendered as Ryder in English records, so not every bearer shares the same origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books often note that the spellings Rider and Ryder were both used for the same occupational name, with Ryder becoming a fixed family spelling in some branches.
From the historical record
“word for " streamlet.' RYDER = Rider, q.v. RYDING = Riding, q.v. RYDON (Eng.) Dwieller at the Rye-Hill [O.E. ryge + dlin] Cp. Roydon. RYE 1 Bel. to Ry (Seine-Inf6rieure, etc.) = the Bank [O.Fr. rie, a bank] This name occurs in the (supp.) copies of the Roll of Battle Ahhey — Ry in Leland's copy, Rie in Holihshed's…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)