Explore the Family Name Rittenour

The meaning of Rittenour

1. Variant of Ritenour, a surname of German origin (see Ridenour). 2. Alternatively, an Americanized form of South German Rittenauer, a habitational name for someone from a place called Rittenau in Austria (from Ritten ‘steep slope’ + Au ‘wet meadow’), or Rüttenauer, a topographic name from Middle High German riute ‘clearing’ + ouwe ‘wet field, water meadow’, suffix -er denoting an inhabitant.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Rittenour in the United States?

The surname Rittenour, based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, has seen an increase in its popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, the surname was ranked 51,119th in prevalence, but by 2010, it had climbed to 49,461st — a change of 3.24%. The number of individuals bearing the surname also increased from 383 in 2000 to 425 in 2010, representing a growth of nearly 11%. Despite this increase, the proportion of people with the name Rittenour per 100,000 remained stable at 0.14.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#51,119	#49,461	3.24%
Count	383	425	10.97%
Proportion per 100k	0.14	0.14	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Rittenour

Turning to ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census reveals that the vast majority of individuals with the surname Rittenour identify as White. In 2000, this percentage stood at 97.91% and saw a slight decrease to 96.94% by 2010. Remarkably, there was an emergence of Asian/Pacific Islander representation within those carrying the Rittenour surname by 2010, accounting for 1.18% of the population. No significant changes were observed in other ethnicities such as Black, Hispanic or American Indian and Alaskan Native over the same period.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.91%	96.94%	-0.99%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	1.18%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%