Surname Ruerup - Meaning and Origin
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Ruerup: What does the surname Ruerup mean?
Ruerup is a surname of German or Dutch origin meaning “rowing-up.” It is derived from the German verb “rudern,” meaning “to row” and “auf” meaning “up.” This suggests that the original bearer of this surname was likely a boatman, rowing people up rivers or around bays. Alternatively, it could be a toponymic surname, which means it was taken from the name of a place or region.
The surname is relatively rare, and is found mainly in Germany. It is recorded in a variety of spellings, including Ruerup, Ruerop, Rürup, and Ruerop. It is reported that Rürup is the most common spelling. There are also recorded variant spellings such as Ruurup, Ruerurup, and Rueroop.
The Ruerup surname can also be found in other countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada and Norway. This shows that the surname spread to other parts of the world due to migration.
The Ruerup surname is usually associated with boatmanship and seafaring, although it may also be linked to toponymic origins. It has been found in Germany, the United States, Australia, Canada and Norway, and has a variety of spellings.
Order DNA origin analysisRuerup: Where does the name Ruerup come from?
The last name Ruerup is most commonly found in the German states of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg. The surname is derived from the old German name 'Rürup', which was a patronymic of the personal names 'Rudolf' or 'Roderich'. Ruerup is a relatively rare surname, with about 330 people in Germany carrying the name in 2017. In Germany, the concentrations of Ruerup families are particularly strong in northern Germany, where it ranks in the top 250 surnames. It is also found in smaller numbers in the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and some parts of the former Soviet Union, including Estonia and Lithuania. Ruerup is considered a defensive surname since it originates from the Old High German word 'rip', meaning 'protection', likely referring to protective properties from flooding or blocked rivers in Old Saxony. It is believed that many families originally bearing the surname 'Rürup' adopted the current spelling during the mid-1800s, as this was a period of rapid standardization of surnames. Today, the surname Ruerup has undergone a second period of standardization, mainly due to the internet, and is now spelled almost exclusively as Ruerup.
Variations of the surname Ruerup
The surname Ruerup is of German origin and can be alternatively written and spelled as Ruerup, Rürup, Rurop, and Rüroop. Its variants can also include Ruehrup, Rerup, Ruehroop, Ruhrup, Roerup, Reroop, Rurup, Rueurup, Rueroop, Roorup, Ruehop and many more. In certain areas, like the Netherlands, it is also written as Ruerup or Ruurup.
Ruerup is actually a small German issue house. According to the German Surname book, there are about 96 families who bear this last name.
There are many variations of surnames under this surname, the most common being Rürup and Ruerop. Both types of names are of the same origin and were mainly used in Eastern Germany. Variations are also linked to areas of Germany, like Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, and the Hanseatic city of Lübeck.
In the UK, many people who bear the name of Ruerup spell and pronounce it as 'Roo-root'. Other regional variants include 'Ruhrop' or 'Rerupp', which are found mainly in Scotland.
The variants and spellings of Ruerup from the UK and other parts of Europe are as diverse as the families which bear it. Although it is a rare surname, it is likely to become more common in the future as more people move abroad and find themselves intermarrying with other families who bear the same surname.
Famous people with the name Ruerup
- Ole Ruerup: Former Director of the Max Planck Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine.
- Eric Ruerup: Executive Vice President of the German legal services provider DIRO Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH.
- Bettina Ruerup: Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic Party in Hamburg and its parliamentary leader in the Hamburg Parliament.
- Bruce Ruerup: Retired Canadian football fullback who played in the Canadian Football League.
- Riccarda Ruerup: German classical philologist who specialises in Greek and Latin literature, papyrology and ancient science of music.
- Anders Ruerup: Former Danish handball player who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics and won two EM titles with the Danish handball team in 1971 and 1973.
- Jonas Ruerup: Danish footballer who currently plays for FC Nordsjælland in the Danish Superliga.
- Tobias Ruerup: Retired German footballer who spent the majority of his career with FSV Frankfurt in the 2. Bundesliga.
- Kate Ruerup: German actress known for her leading roles in Schuld nach Ferdinand von Schirach and Stubbe: Von Fall zu Fall.
- Björn Ruerup: Danish historian and Professor of Medieval History at the University of Copenhagen.