Relph

The English family name Relph is classified as being of personal name origin. According to scholars the oldest and most pervasive type of surname is that derived from a personal name. Such family names may be derived from a parental first name or from the front name of the grandfather, or indeed a more remote ancestor of the original bearer of the surname. In this case, the surname Relph is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name Richolf, derived from the Old German Ricwulf, meaning power wolf. The form Riulf from the Old French became popular at a later stage, probably due to the Normans who settled in England in the eleventh century. Variants of the surname Relph include Relf, Relfe and Realff.