Rittenhouse
A Pennsylvania Dutch surname likely meaning “house of the knight” or “knight’s house.”
The #6,339 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 57,409 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Rittenhouse is generally treated as a Dutch or Germanized surname built from a form of Ritter, meaning “knight,” plus Haus/house, “house.” The name is often understood as a habitational or descriptive formation along the lines of “the knight’s house” or “house belonging to a knight.” The historical spelling cited in older sources, Rittenhuysen / Rittinghuysen, points to a Dutch or Low German form before later Anglicization.
History
The surname is best known in America through the Rittenhouse family of Pennsylvania German background, especially the scientist David Rittenhouse (1732–1796). Older onomastic works connect it with continental forms such as Rittinghuysen, suggesting that the modern spelling developed after immigration and English-language adaptation. In the United States it remains uncommon but historically prominent because of that family.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
David Rittenhouse became one of the best-known American bearers of the name and was a leading astronomer, instrument maker, and public figure in the Revolutionary era.
From the historical record
“Ritner, p. 318 Rittinghuysen, p. 318 Rittenhouse = Rittenhuysen, Ritter, pp. 312, 317 Rittle, p. 306 Rode = Roth, Rodenbach, p. 316 Rodenbaugh = Rodenbach,”
— Studies in Pennsylvania German Family Names