The rath Surname
rath Name Meaning and History
- German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): descriptive epithet for a wise person or counselor, from Middle High German rat ‘counsel’, ‘advice’, German Rat ‘counsel’, ‘advice’, also ‘stock’, ‘supply’.
- German (also Swiss Räth): from a short form of any of the various Germanic compound personal names formed with rad, rat ‘counsel’, ‘advice’ as the first element.
- German (Rhineland): habitational name from any of various places called Rath, which derives from Middle Low German roden, raden ‘to clear land for cultivation’.
- Irish: in some cases a habitational name from a place called Rath; in County Derry it is a reduced form of McIlwraith (see McIlrath).
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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