Find out how popular the last name Ridenhour is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Ridenhour.

Ridenhour, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Ridenhour surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ridenhour in America

Ridenhour is the 17911th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ridenhour surname appeared 1,561 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Ridenhour.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ridenhour to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Ridenhour

The surname Ridenhour is believed to have originated in Germany during the medieval period. It is derived from the Old German words "riden" meaning to ride and "hure" meaning a hired hand or servant. The name likely referred to someone who worked as a hired rider or messenger on horseback.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the records of the town of Miltenberg in Bavaria, where a "Hainrich Ridenhour" is mentioned in a document from 1376. The name also appears in various spellings such as Rydenhour, Ridenthauer, and Reidenhauer in other German regions during the 14th and 15th centuries.

While the name does not appear in major historical texts like the Domesday Book, it can be traced back to several noble German families from the 16th century onwards. One notable example is Johann Ridenhour (1532-1597), a wealthy landowner and vintner from the Palatinate region.

In the 17th century, some bearers of the name migrated to the American colonies, with records showing a Hans Ridenhour settling in Pennsylvania in 1683. Another early American with the name was Jacob Ridenhour (1713-1788), a farmer and miller in North Carolina.

As the name spread across Europe and North America, it underwent various spelling changes, with variants like Reidenhour, Ridenhauer, and Rittenhour emerging. One prominent figure was Herman Ridenhour (1832-1901), a German-American industrialist and founder of the Ridenhour Brass Works in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Another notable bearer of the name was Carl Ridenhour (1871-1948), a German-American artist and illustrator known for his works depicting life in the American West. In more recent times, Ron Ridenhour (1946-1998) was an American veteran and investigative journalist who broke the story of the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ridenhour

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Ridenhour.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Ridenhour was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Ridenhour has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Ridenhour was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Ridenhour, please contact us.

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