De%20ruyter Family History
De%20ruyter Name Meaning
Flemish (also Deruyter) and Dutch: occupational name with the definite article de ‘the’ from Middle Dutch ruter ‘horseman’ particularly for a warrior on horseback a cavalryman hence also a topographic or habitational name referring to a house bearing a sign showing such a person. The term ruter also meant ‘freebooter’ (see Rutter ). This is also an Americanized form of the more common Dutch variant De Ruijter.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022