Roderick

Roderick, Rodrick or Roderic (Proto-Germanic *Hrōþirīkz, from proto-Germanic hrōþaz "fame, glory" + rikz "ruler") is a Germanic name, recorded from the 8th century onward.[1] Its Old High German forms are Hrodric, Chrodericus, Hroderich, Roderich, Ruodrich (etc.); in Gothic language Hrōþireiks; in Old English language it appears as Hrēðrīc or Hroðrīc, and in Old Norse as Hrǿríkʀ (Old East Norse Hrø̄rīkʀ, Rø̄rīkʀ, Old West Norse as Hrœrekr, Rœrekr).

Roderick
Romantic painting of Visigothic king of Spain. Bernardo Blanco y Pérez (Museo del Prado) Roderic
GenderMale
Name dayMarch 13
Origin
Word/nameGermanic
Meaning"fame/glory/great" + "reiks, king, ruler, leader"
Region of originNorthern Europe; Visigothic kingdom
Other names
Variant form(s)Hrœrekr, Rœrekr, Rorik, Rurik, Roddy, Rodrick, Roderic, Roderich, Ruodrich, Chrodericus, Hrodericus, Rodericus, Ludhriq, Rodrigo

In the 12th-century Primary chronicle, the name is reflected as Рюрикъ, i.e. Rurik. In Spanish and Portuguese, it was rendered as Rodrigo, or in its short form, Ruy, Rui, or Ruiz, and in Galician, the name is Roi. In Arabic, the form Ludhriq (لذريق), used to refer Roderic (Ulfilan Gothic *Hroþareiks), the last king of the Visigoths. Saint Roderick (d. 857) is one of the Martyrs of Córdoba.

The modern English name does not continue the Anglo-Saxon form but was re-introduced from the continent by the Normans. The Middle English given name had also virtually disappeared by the 19th century, even though it had survived as a surname. The given name was re-popularised by Sir Walter Scott's poem The Vision of Don Roderick (1811), where Roderick refers to the Visigothic king. The modern English name is sometimes abbreviated to Roddy.

Roderick is also an Anglicisation of several unrelated names. As a surname and given name it is an Anglicised form of the Welsh Rhydderch. The given name Roderick is also an Anglicised form of the Gaelic personal name Ruaidhrí/Ruairí/Ruairidh/Ruaraidh.

Medieval period
  • Hreðric, king Hroðgar's son in Beowulf, who has various counterparts named Rørik and Hrœrekr in Norse mythology
  • Hrœrekr Ringslinger (Rørik Slængeborræ or Rørik Slyngebond), mythological king in what is today Denmark. Father of Queen Gertrude, the prototype of Shakespeare's Prince Hamlet, possibly mixed up with the Viking founder of Novgorod and the Russian Empire, Rurik; or the same person.
  • Roderic, 8th-century king of the Visigoths in Visigothic Kingdom of Spain.
  • Rorik of Dorestad, chieftain who ruled Frisia, in the 9th century
  • Rurik, 9th-century founder of Novgorod and the Kievan Rus, known as Hrøríkr of Holmgard, in Norse literature, Varangian viking King.
  • Saint Roderick (d. 857), one of the Martyrs of Córdoba.
  • Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043–1099), better known as El Cid, or simply Rodrigo, was a Castilian nobleman and military leader in medieval Spain.
  • S Uciredor ("Rodericus" spelled backwards), Medieval composer

Modern given name

See also: All pages with titles beginning with Roderick

Modern surname

Other
  • Roderick, favorite horse of Nathan Bedford Forrest, Confederate general in the American Civil War
  • Spencer Buford House, historic house listed on the NRHP in Williamson County, Tennessee, known also as Roderick for Nathan Bedford Forrest's horse
  • Roderick (novel), 1980 science fiction novel by John Sladek
  • 16194 Roderick (2000 AJ231), main-belt asteroid
  • Roderick Heffley, a fictional character in the children's book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

See also

References
  1. Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856), 740.
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