Given name & surname

Rudd

“one who has a ruddy complexion”

Rudd is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “one who has a ruddy complexion.”

Meaning & origin

What it means

One English interpretation is “one who has a ruddy complexion.”

Where it comes from

An origin associated with this spelling is English.

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1921. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Rudd through the years

Babies since 1880
10
10 boys · 0 girls
Most popular year
1921
5 babies
2025
0
Outside the ranked list
2021–25 vs 2016–20
—
Too few births to compare
024619401960198020002025Highest share 19210.0
Rudd in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1921–2025, per million boys born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1955. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 13,774 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Rudd’s family of names

In English usage, Rudd has a later derivative in 路德. Rudd has a related form in Ruddy. Rudd has a related form in Ruddea.

Walk Rudd’s family in the name graph

RuddRuddyRuddieRuddiRuddeeRuddeyRuddea路德Ραντ

Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Nicknames & forms 6

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Across languages 2

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

Similar names

If you love Rudd, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

English · Old-fashioned

Rupert

“one who is bright with fame”

26RareRising

>99% boys

English · Old-fashioned

Rexford

“from the king's ford”

23RareSteady

>99% boys

English · Old-fashioned

Ralph

“wolt counsel”

48UncommonSteady

>99% boys

English · Old-fashioned

Wilfred

“one who wishes for peace”

26RareSteady

>99% boys

English

Yates

“keeper of the gates”

19Very rareEasing

>99% boys

English · Old-fashioned

Claude

“one who is lame”

29RareEasing

>99% boys

English · Old-fashioned

Judge

“one who sits in judgment of others”

32RareRising

>99% boys

English

Halstead

“from the manor grounds”

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Sibling ideas

Names that share Rudd’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Rudd