It would be interesting to undergo a complete Y DNA test with Family Tree DNA,
which company has a very wide surname database with Y dna markers and related haplogroups/subgroups; it would possibly help to understand better the origin of a surname; by knowing the male line origin, it would open doors to having a better idea
of the origin of the surname; RUDELL might even be linked to the surname RIDELL, as the first vowel was often spelled more silently, but there are many variables to the
origin of surnames, although it is a very interesting discipline; RUDELL is also found
in Scandinavia, apart the British Isles, as well as from old France if it derives from
RUDEL/RIDEL; it could also come from Germany, where the word rudell is still referred
to a rod used for navigational purposes, or it is referred in old germanic dialect/language to a part of the rudder; in old german is referred also to a wheel;
in a old occitan dialect rudelle is referred to a stick/rod as well, or also to the old
buckler shield, also called rodelle/rondelle; the word rudell would also be used within
british territories; it was also referred to the color red; rudell would also show on
very old 12th century english papers referring to the word ridell (again, a mispelling caused by the fas spoken vowel -i-), where -ridell- meant "a dell with rye", or a "dale with rye; rudell in old swedish would also mean "a clearing among trees", from the word -rid- and the old roman -el- which would be used as a diminutive form; the word -rud- in old celtic menat also -red- (the color), and again -el- was a diminutive from the old french; rudel in old french could have referred to the latin -rudis- (something or somebody -rude-); rudel was also, within specific cases, a diminutive of the german name -Rudolph-, spelled also -Rudelphus- (therefore, -Rudel'-); to note that Rudell could have originated from an already established name of a locality, and within Great Britain there were old localities with the same name, but now they don't exist anymore, or their name was changed to other name; in south England there was/is a locality called -Rowdell-, but time ago it was called Rudell; another locality was called Ruedel in England as well; some specific cases of the surname RUDDELL originated from Rudell, but down the line and at some point somebody wanted to add the second -D- because it would sound more -english- rather that -french-; other preferred to change the surname Rudel into Ridel because it would sound better to them; Ridel might have originated from the very old norman -Rindel- (a more modern form which is -rindelle-) form, which was often referred to a circle, a ring of some sort, also possibly a round shield; ridell
was also referred to a certain kind of cloth, a drapery, a curtain but this comes from the old french dialects/languages; ridelle is also referred to the dropsides of a truck, of an wagon, wooden made barriers with the purpose of keeping the load of a
wagon from falling sidewards; the ridelles where also referred to a continuous line of trees, or to a tree lof anyway (ridelle/rudelle); rudel in a germanic dialect is also referred to a part of a wagon/station wagon; also, rudelle in french was/is referred to a specific stick of a wagon, an axle also; roodel is also an ancient form, from the word rood with the ending el; roudell, in french, was also referred to a metal ring which would avoid having the wheels of a wagon striking a part of the wheel axle; there is a locality in England called Rudland, also Rutland (an old county), and sometimes it was spelled -Rudeland-, therefore it would show on lold papers as of -Rudel'-; Rudell could also derive from the name Rud, as well as from the word rundel; in France, roundelle/rudelle meant the same thing in certain cases, referring again to the round shield, but also to a wheel of a mill, from the occitan dialect -ruda-; rudell was also referred in other northern territories to the shape that the cutten grass would take after being cut, or how it was placed by the workers after the same grass field was cut; rudelle in old french was referred also to a narrow passage, a canal; there are localities in France that are/were called Rudella, also a mountain in Italy is still called Rudella, most likely because of an ancient celtic site nearby the same mountain which was called Roudelius (from the very old celtic tribes who lived in the Gallia Cisalpine);
to say to truth, it is a very challenging, but this makes it also fascinating in a sense, to understand the true meaning of the surname; let's don't forget that the surname Rudell is very old; some also say that it derives from the teuthonic name Rudo/Ruodo, or from the old german name Ruodilo, or from -Hrodo/Hrod- which are very very old forms that mean -famous-, known; for example, -Rudolph- comes from Hrod and wulf, which means altogether -famous wolf-; let's don't forget that in ancient times
certain names could have also meant something that has be long time forgotten, but, at those times, they had a specific and very important meaning to those who created these names, perhaps they even dreamt about them, and later wanted to apply the same to their children or to themselves, they would also sound good for specific reasons linked to the conditions of the time and the experiences that the ancestors would live; at those times, there were not that many distractions that we have nowadays, life was very very different, and the thoughts would go far and deep, and the sounds from the voice would come from deep thoughts, and ideas referred to deeper thoughts and feelings would result also in words which then would sound good to a person and also have a certain importance, therefore many names of the past would have a meaning that was all special and most likely would then be sometimes kept as a secret to others; later, the meaning would have been perhaps slightly changed to cover the secret that only the bearer of the name knew; later, the name would have been changed perhaps, or because it was not liked, or just to make it sound better;
in any way, the Rudell surname is very interesting and ..... very very old, ancient.
regards,
Carl