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Rutter Family History

Rutter Name Meaning

English: occupational name from Old French roteor roteeur routeeur ‘player on the rote’ a musical instrument a kind of harp or fiddle. The regular modern development of the name would have been to Roter (rhyming with boater) and to Router or Rowter (rhyming with doubter). These variants survive in small numbers but the principal modern form is Rutter found in fairly large numbers across England especially in the northeast and in the West Midlands. The shortened vowel in Rutter may have been influenced by rotte rutte Middle English variants of Old French rote. Compare Root English: nickname from Middle English roter rotour ‘robber plunderer’ also ‘scoundrel lecher’ a borrowing of Old French rotier Anglo-Norman French routier ‘soldier of fortune; robber highwayman ruffian’ though this is a less likely source of the modern surname. Dutch: nickname from Middle Dutch rut(t)er ‘freebooter footpad’ cognate with 2 above.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


Similar surnames: Butter, Nutter, Hutter, Sutter, Ruther, Ritter, Rutten, Rotter

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Where is the Rutter family from?

You can see how Rutter families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Rutter family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Rutter families were found in United Kingdom in 1891. In 1911 there were 111 Rutter families living in Ontario. This was about 63% of all the recorded Rutter's in Canada. Ontario had the highest population of Rutter families in 1911.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Rutter surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.

What did your Rutter ancestors do for a living?

In 1921, Farmer and Housekeeper were the top reported jobs for men and women in the Canada named Rutter. 42% of Rutter men worked as a Farmer and 25% of Rutter women worked as a Housekeeper. Some less common occupations for Americans named Rutter were Farmers Son and Stenographer. .

View Census Data for Rutter | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1921

  • Farmer
    42%
  • Labourer
    24%
  • Laborer
    9%
  • Farmers Son
    7%

Top Female Occupations In 1921

  • Housekeeper
    25%
  • Maid
    25%
  • Operator
    25%
  • Stenographer
    25%
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What Rutter family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 115,000 census records available for the last name Rutter. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Rutter census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search Canadian census records for Rutter

Passenger Lists

There are 24,000 immigration records available for the last name Rutter. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in Canada, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

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Draft Cards

There are 12,000 military records available for the last name Rutter. For the veterans among your Rutter ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

View all Rutter military records

You've only scratched the surface of Rutter family history

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What is the average Rutter lifespan?

Between 1946 and 2004, in the United States, Rutter life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1951, and highest in 1997. The average life expectancy for Rutter in 1946 was 50, and 73 in 2004.

View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Rutter

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