Family name origins & meanings
- Dutch : patronymic from a short form of the Germanic personal name Rutger (see Roger) or some other personal name formed with hrōd ‘renown’.
- Dutch (van Rutten) : habitational name for someone from Rutten in the Belgian province of Limburg.
- German (also Rütten) : Westphalian and Rhenish topographic name from a field named aus den Ruthen; the element Ruthen is contained in numerous place names, for example Rüthen and Rütenbrock. It is most probably a variant of Reute ‘clearing’ (see Reuter).