Given name
Rutger
Rutger is used as a given name. Rutger is connected with Roger.
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
Rutger is a form of Roger. An origin associated with Roger is Germanic.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In Dutch use, Rutger is used as a form of Roger.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1987. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Rutger is a form of Roger. The history of Roger gives this family its wider story. Roger’s historical bearers include members of the aristocracy.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Rutger through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 274
- 274 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1993
- 23 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #13,513 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 13,513 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 23 in 1993. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 291 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Rutger’s family of names
Rutger shares a linguistic root with Roger. In Dutch usage, Rutger has a conventional equivalent in the German form Rüdiger. Rutger is a form of Roger.
The ring: across languages.
Around the world
Rutger has relatives in 4 languages.
4 related names in 4 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Rutger
- Rutger HauerDutch actor (1944–2019)
- Rutger BregmanDutch journalist, writer and historianborn 1988
- Rutger SmithDutch shot put and discus throwerborn 1981
- Rutger Jan SchimmelpenninckDutch ambassador and Grand pensionary of Holland (1761-1825)
- Rutger von AschebergSwedish noble (1621-1693)
- Rutger SernanderSwedish scientist (1866-1944)
- Rutger ten VeldeDutch handball playerborn 1997
- Rutger KoplandDutch poet, essay writer and psychiatrist (1934–2012)
- Rutger I, Count of Cleves990 - uncertain970–1050
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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