Where did Rudyard Kipling's name Rudyard come from?

Question

My family name is spelled Rydeard, however it has also been spelled many ways, one of the many is Rudyard.  In your compiling of Rudyard Kipling's genealogy if you ever find where his name of Rudyard is from I would be interested.  People in England (where the family is from) keep suggesting there must be a connection in Kiplings tree somewhere since the name is uncommon.
Thanks in advance, and regards,
LC

Comments

Well here's an outline of the Rudyard family.

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol7/pp216-219

As for Kipling, well not every GW or TJ in the USA is related to a president.  Sometimes names come from friends of the family or godparents or local heroes.  The Rudyards would have had a lot of branches by the 19th century.  Given the family background, one could easily have been a civil servant or colonel or missionary in India and known to the Kiplings.

 

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"[His parents] had met in 1863 and courted at Rudyard Lake in Rudyard, Staffordshire, England. --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudyard_Kipling

Of course Wikipedia is not a definitive source but it sounds plausible.

 

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So much for guessing :)

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Just to mention that the spelling of the surname in the parish history isn't the spelling of the original records - these things are generally standardized.

Answer 1

The name means "red yard" in Old English. From   www.behindthename.com/name/rudyard

www.babynamewizard.com/baby-name/boy/rudyard  has it that Rudyard Kipling was named for the place where his parents met.