Ridder — Family Name, Records and Arms

Before any talk of crests, here are the plain facts about Ridder. 1,787 Americans were listed as Ridder in the 2010 census. That puts it inside the top 25,000 US surnames.

• Start with the most recent records and work back one generation at a time.
• No reliable dictionary entry explains Ridder, so any origin we give a client is traced from their own ancestors.
• Names that sound alike, such as Rider, are easily confused in old records.
• Ridder is catalogued in Wikidata as a German last name.

Heraldry and the Ridder name

Heraldry follows families, not surnames. A Ridder coat of arms, where one exists, belonged to a specific line. For the full story, order the Ridder surname pack.