Ridgway Surname

34,367th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 15,422 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Jersey

Ridgway Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the ridge-way,' i.e. the road over the back of the hill. A Cheshire family so called ramified strongly.

Lucia atte Rugewey, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Johannes de Rygeway, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

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Ridgway Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States7,6691:47,2635,739
England4,5241:12,3161,814
Australia1,4761:18,2902,552
Canada6131:60,1077,084
South Africa3791:142,94916,392
New Zealand2401:18,8683,310
Wales1771:17,4831,899
Scotland951:56,3564,696
Thailand291:2,435,805267,220
France261:2,554,720189,486
Ireland221:214,0438,362
Spain211:2,226,28755,801
Jersey141:7,0861,520
United Arab Emirates121:763,52325,625
Argentina121:3,561,951138,643
Northern Ireland111:167,7318,683
Isle of Man101:8,5821,778
Norway91:571,36544,190
Qatar61:393,00055,922
Oman61:614,6626,082
United States Virgin Islands51:22,0752,767
Malaysia51:5,898,845196,803
Switzerland51:1,642,58387,307
Hong Kong51:1,467,0975,611
Philippines51:20,247,645262,352
Singapore41:1,376,92628,409
Portugal41:2,604,56016,079
Panama31:1,304,08613,647
China31:455,773,85521,925
Mexico31:41,375,40271,397
Germany21:40,252,730481,636
Vietnam21:46,323,0275,235
Zimbabwe21:7,719,120118,432
Sweden21:4,923,378241,212
Greece21:5,539,895129,142
Poland21:19,004,374199,659
Afghanistan11:32,153,18360,828
Belgium11:11,496,644167,539
Italy11:61,156,688199,583
India11:767,065,3821,851,717
Bulgaria11:6,978,90586,260
Bahrain11:1,348,60810,432
Peru11:31,784,12364,452
Chile11:17,616,47493,597
Vanuatu11:263,2762,086
Luxembourg11:580,54215,155
El Salvador11:6,343,8888,415
Fiji11:894,3914,568
Taiwan11:23,444,74693,622
Iraq11:35,021,65431,813
Guernsey11:64,4392,137
Russia11:144,123,056881,408
Netherlands11:16,887,176156,465
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland251:177,1958,871
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England2,6981:9,0351,357
Wales551:28,5171,601
Guernsey91:3,628639
Scotland51:748,64318,576
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States2,1981:22,8472,867

Ridgway (69) may also be a first name.

Ridgway Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the ridge-way,' i.e. the road over the back of the hill. A Cheshire family so called ramified strongly.

Lucia atte Rugewey, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Johannes de Rygeway, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

John del Ruggeway, Cheshire, 1355: East Cheshire.

Hugh Ridgeway, Cheshire, 1577: ibid.

1560. Buried — Katerine Ridgeway: Reg. Prestbury Ch., Cheshire.

1572. Married — Roger Rydgewaye and Ellen Getscare: ibid.

James Ridgway, of Offerton, 1594: Wills at Chester.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

(English) Dweller at the Ridge-Way [Old English hrycgweg]

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

(English) Dweller at the way, or road, along a ridge.

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

A location name in Devon, Somerset.

British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning (1903) by Henry Barber

Ridgway Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Ridgway Come From? nationality or country of origin

The surname Ridgway occurs more in The United States more than any other country or territory. It can also be rendered as a variant:. For other potential spellings of Ridgway click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Ridgway? popularity and diffusion

It is the 34,367th most common family name at a global level It is held by around 1 in 472,542 people. It occurs mostly in The Americas, where 54 percent of Ridgway reside; 54 percent reside in North America and 53 percent reside in Anglo-North America. Ridgway is also the 1,171,416th most widespread first name internationally It is held by 69 people.

The last name Ridgway is most frequently held in The United States, where it is borne by 7,669 people, or 1 in 47,263. In The United States it is primarily found in: California, where 10 percent reside, Texas, where 9 percent reside and Ohio, where 5 percent reside. Other than The United States this last name occurs in 52 countries. It also occurs in England, where 29 percent reside and Australia, where 10 percent reside.

Ridgway Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The incidence of Ridgway has changed over time. In The United States the number of people who held the Ridgway last name rose 349 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it rose 168 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it rose 322 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Scotland it rose 1,900 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it decreased 12 percent between 1901 and 2014.

Ridgway Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those bearing the Ridgway surname is chiefly Anglican (56%) in Ireland.

In The United States those holding the Ridgway surname are 23.11% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than The US average, with 69.88% registered to vote for the party.

The amount Ridgway earn in different countries varies greatly. In Norway they earn 34.75% less than the national average, earning 225,811 kr per year; in South Africa they earn 124.7% more than the national average, earning R 533,976 per year; in United States they earn 4.76% more than the national average, earning $45,201 USD per year and in Canada they earn 7.05% more than the national average, earning $53,185 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Ridghway933/
Ridgwy921/
Ridgwa921/
Ridguay8649/
Rudgway862/
Ridgwat861/
Ridgwey861/
Ridgvay861/
Redgway860/
Ridgby772/
Ritgwe621/

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Ridgway Reference & Research

Ridgeway/Ridgway Fam FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Ridgway
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis