The ridley Surname
ridley Name Meaning and History
- English: habitational name from any of various places in England so named, especially the one in Northumberland, which, like that in Cheshire, is derived from Old English geryd ‘channel’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’. Those in Essex and Kent appear in Domesday Book as Retleia and Redlege respectively, and get their names from Old English hreod ‘reed’ + leah.
- Possibly also an altered spelling of German Riedel or Riedler (see Ridler).
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
Learn the meaning and history of your first name
Share this page with friends and family
Search for ridley records
More resources for your ridley family history
Ridley message board
Threads: 254 - Messages: 689
Start your FREE family tree. Who will you discover?
A family tree is the easiest way to start discovering your family history. To begin, just enter whatever you know and we'll use that to try and find more information for you.
Begin your family tree with your name:
The ridley name in History
A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the ridley family name as far back in history as possible.
Member Connections
- Anonymously contact one of the Ancestry members researching the ridley last name.
- Search for Ancestry members researching one of your specific ancestors.
- Create or update your own Ancestry member profile so that other members can anonymously contact you.
More Tools and Resources
- Search Ancestry.com for all of your ridley ancestors.
- Create and publish your own family history book using Ancestry Press.
- Learn more about your family history using DNA Ancestry.
- Learn more about family history in the Ancestry Learning Center.
- Visit the Ancestry.com homepage.