Origin
Riding : English (Lancashire): topographic name for someone who lived by an area of cleared land an assart from Middle English riding ridding (Old English rydding) ‘clearing assart’.
Atack : variant of Eatough. This name was brought into the West Riding from Lancs the earliest example being Atowght recorded in Crofton 1545 in Redmonds (1997).
Attaway : English:: 1: variant of Ottaway with unrounding of the initial vowel.2: topographic name from Middle English atte weye ‘by the road’ or a habitational name for someone from Atway or Way both in Devon. The word way (Old English weg) was the usual term for a road in Old and Middle English as opposed to a stræt ‘paved road’ (usually a Roman road). The term rād or road originally meaning ‘act of riding outing on horseback’ did not come to mean ‘highway’ until Shakespeare's time.
Capell : 1: English: variant of Chappell ‘chapel’ from a Norman form with hard c- applied as a topographic or occupational name or as a habitational name for someone from any of several minor places called with this word such as Capel in Surrey Capel le Ferne in Kent or Capel Saint Andrew and Capel Saint Mary in Suffolk.2: English: from Middle English capel caple capul(le) ‘stallion gelding; warhorse cart horse riding horse’ denoting someone thought to resemble a horse in some way or possibly someone whose occupation involved horses.3: Catalan: from capell ‘hat hood’ as a nickname for someone who habitually wore a hat or hood or a metonymic occupational name for someone who made hats or hoods.
Chevalier : French: from Old French chevalier ‘knight’ (literally ‘horseman rider’ from Late Latin caballarius a derivative of caballus ‘horse’). In the Middle Ages only men of comparative wealth were able to afford the upkeep of a riding horse. It is likely that in the majority of cases the surname was originally a nickname or an occupational name for a knight's servant rather than a status name for most men of the knightly class belonged to noble families which had more specific surnames derived from their estates. This was a name of Norman origin in England but probably did not survive the medieval period and was later reintroduced by Huguenot refugees.
Leatherhead : from Leatherhead (Surrey) which is recorded as Ledred in medieval documents. The place-name probably derives from Old English lēode ‘folk people’ + ride ‘riding place suitable for riding bridle path’.
Leatherwood : English: perhaps an altered form of Leatherhead a habitational name from Leatherhead (Surrey) which probably derives from Old English lēode ‘folk people’ + ride ‘riding place suitable for riding bridle path’ or alternatively a habitational name from Lythwood in Shropshire which is named from Old English hlith ‘slope’ + wudu ‘wood’.
Ormondroyd : from a lost place in Birstall (WR Yorks) incorrectly recorded as Hamondeswode in 1307. It derives from the Middle English (Old French) personal name Hamon (see Hammond) + Middle English roid a southern West Riding pronunciation of Old English *rod ‘clearing’. Orm- is a late 18th- or 19th-century re-spelling of Awm-. For the development of -a- to -aw- in this name see Hawman.
Palfreyman : English: occupational name from Middle English palefreiman ‘man responsible for the palfreys or riding horses a groom’. Compare Palfrey.
Rachford : English:: 1: variant of Rochford.2: variant of Rackford a habitational name from Rackenford in Devon recorded in Domesday Book as Racheneforda which Mills interprets as ‘ford suitable for riding by a stretch of river’.
Radway : English:: 1: habitational name from Radway (Warwickshire) Roadway in Morthoe (Devon) Radway in Bishopsteignton (Devon) Reddaway in Sampford Courtenay (Devon) or Rodway in Cannington (Somerset). The Warwickshire and Devon placenames probably derive from Old English rēad ‘red’ + weg ‘way track road’. The Somerset placename recorded as Radeweye in 1266 more probably derives from Old English rād ‘the act of riding on horseback’ + weg i.e. a track suitable for riding on.2: from the Middle English personal name Radwi (Old English Rǣdwīg from rǣd ‘counsel’ + wīg ‘battle’).
Redgate : English (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire): habitational name from any of several places called Redgate such as Redgate in Uppingham (Rutland) recorded as le Redegate in 1290. The name derives from either Old English rǣde ‘suitable for riding on’ or rēad ‘red’ + Old Norse gata ‘way path road’. There is also a Redgate Wood (earlier Redgate Spring) in Kirklington (Nottinghamshire).
Rennhack : German: probably an occupational name for a fast-moving street trader or for one riding a horse from Middle Low German rennen ‘to run ride (on horseback)’ + hake ‘huckster street trader’.
Rideout : English (Dorset): occupational name from Middle English rid out ‘ride out’ perhaps used of an outrider (Middle English outridere) an officer of a sheriff's court or of a monastery whose duties included riding out to collect dues and supervise manors. The similar Middle English phrase rid awei ‘ride away’ is also attested as a medieval surname.
Ridinger : German:: 1: habitational name for someone from any of several places in Bavaria named Riding or Rieding. Compare Riedinger.2: possibly an altered form of Reitinger a topographic name from dialect Reit(e) ‘clearing’ (Old High German riuti) which also gave rise to several placenames in Bavaria and Austria.
Riedesel : German: presumably from a nickname from Middle High German rīten ‘to ride’ + esel ‘donkey’ denoting a riding animal. This is the name of a noble family in Hesse.
Riedinger : German: habitational name for someone from any of several places called Rieding or Riding in Bavaria. Compare Ridinger.
Ruddin : variant of Riding. For the name in N England compare Thomas Ruddynge 1554 Agnes Riding 1578 in IGI (Halifax WR Yorks).
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
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