Could Ritter be a nickname

Question

I have information that Ritter is a great great ( so on) grandfather. But, His father   I can not find had a son named Ritter. I have other sons and a daughter But I can not find the name Ritter. Could this be a nickname??

Comments

Have you ruled out the possibility that Ritter is a middle name?  A number of my ancestors seemed to use their middle names in daily life.  Maybe "John R. Surname" (made up name) in your records is "John Ritter Surname" and he went by Ritter in daily life.

Reba

Answer 1

I have seen ritter used as a nickname for Henrietta.

Answer 2

Names are terrible. Census, birth certificate etc can all be very vague or entirely wrong.  Could be a nickname, could be a middle name, could be a misspelling.

Answer 3

“Ritter” is also a German title, meaning knight.