Ryde Family History

from Middle English ride rede rude (Old English *rīed *rēod *rȳd) ‘clearing’. The surname may be for someone who lived in or near a clearing or who lived at one of a number of places so named including Rede Court in Strood (Kent) Rides in Eastchurch (Kent) Ride Way in Ewhurst (Surrey) and Reed Farm in Wadhurst (Sussex). The word is particularly common in the south-eastern counties from Kent to the Isle of Wight. See also Rider and Reader . from Middle English rithe ‘small stream’ also recorded as ride in Sussex and Hants. The 1524 1588 and 1599 early bearers are associated with Ryde Farm in Send (Surrey) recorded as Ryde in 1541 (Place-Names of Surrey 148). There is a small stream to the west of the farm which may have given rise to the place-name. Alternatively the place-name and the surname belong with (1) above. See also Rider . away from SE England if the name is not from (1) or (2) by migration it may be a spelling variant of Wride unless Wride itself is a reverse spelling of Ride. A tendency not to pronounce initial /w/ before /r/ began in the 15th century after which the spellings wr- and r- were interchangeable. Compare Samuel Ride 1701 John Wride 1708 in IGI (Mugginton Derbys); Samuel Wride 1734 Ann Ride 1778 in IGI (Bedminster Somerset).

Source: The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, 2016