This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Rhodes.' Many of the Manchester Rhodes hail from Rhodes, two estates, one between Prestwich and Ringley, and the other near Middleton. Probably both local terms are equivalent to royds and imply an early ridding. (2) Local, 'at the roads,' i.e. cross-roads. Here the 'h' is intrusive. This was a common Yorkshire entry, and explains the large number of Rhodes in the West Riding Directory For instances, v. Roades.

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the roads,' i.e. the crossroads, the point where the roads meet. Also simply, 'at the road,' one who lived by the road-side. It was natural for people to live at the conjunction of roads, hence the plural form, (a) Local, 'at the rode' or rodes; v. Royd.

Simon de la Rode, Suffolk, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

William del Rode. Norfolk, ibid.

William atte Rode, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Robert atte Rode, Somerset, ibid.

Edmundus del Rodes, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Agnes del Rodes, 1379: ibid.

Aficia del Rodes, 1379: ibid.

Henry del Rodes, 1379: ibid.

There are eighty-four Rhodes in the West Riding Court Directory alone, manifestly the descendants of such persons as are named above; v. Rhodes (a).

1621. Margery Rodes, of Ribchester, widdow: Lancashire Wills at Richmond.

1706. Edward Roads, or Rhodes, of Thoroley: ibid.

Pl. and genit., of Road(e, q.v.

Roads is common in Bucks. The Rhodes of Yorkshire (in the Yorks Poll- Tax, a.d. 1379, commonly ‘del Rodes’) and the neighbouring counties (Lancs: Richard de Rodes.—‘ Inq. de an. et die,’ a.d. 1269), and the Rhoad(e)s of Lincolnshire, may be set down as Scandinavian.

Not from the Island, as stated in English Surn.; but a corruption of Roadhouse or Rodehouse, as appears from the Par. Reg. of Eckington, co. Derby. Inf. Rev. J. Eastwood.

Local. From the island of Rhodes, in the Mediterranean Sea. Rhodes, a town in Guieune, France.

More than one mayor of Boston in the 17th century bore the name of Rhodes (T.).

Rhodes is a name principally represented in the West Riding, but it is also established in Lancashire, Notts, and Derbyshire, and it occurs as Rhoades in Lincolnshire. Roads is a numerous Bucks name. There are hamlets and villages called Rhodes in Lancashire and the West Riding. A family named Rodes or De Rodes flourished for 500 or 600 years in Lincolnshire, Notts, Yorkshire, and Derbyshire: they were descended from Gerard de Rodes, a distinguished baron of the 12th century. The Derbyshire branch was a knightly family of Barlborough in the 17th and 18th centuries, rewarded with a baronetcy in 1641 (Pilkington's "Derbyshire").