Routledge (surname)

Common variant spellings include Rutledge, Ratledge, Ruttledge and Rutlidge.

[a] The surname was first recorded in the 15th century in Scotland along the Anglo-Scottish border, in Liddesdale and the towns of Roxburgh, Hawick and Cavers on the River Teviot.

In the 16th century, after their land was destroyed in the Rough Wooing, the family fled across the border and settled in Kilham, Northumberland and Bewcastle and Lanercost, Cumberland.

In England, the highest concentration of Routledges is in the north, in Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham.

[5] 430 people are named Ruttledge, which is most frequent in Ireland (140), and also found in England (130) and the United States (110).