Rufus, Rufina

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220px-William_II_of_England

King William II

The name comes directly from the Latin word meaning “red-headed.” It was a common Roman cognomen and was borne by a man who is referenced in Romans 16:13 and another who is referenced in Mark 15:21. According to Eastern Orthodox tradition, the aforementioned are one and the same person and is venerated as one of the Seventy Disciples mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. He is also popularly believed to be the son of Simon of Cyrene.

The name is borne by several other saints.

It was the nickname of King William II of England, known as William Rufus III on account of his red-hair.

The name appeared in the U.S. Top 100 2 times, in 1880 & 1882, peaking at #88 in 1880. It remained in the Top 1000 1988.

In England & Wales, the name was the 264th Most Popular Male Name in 2018.

Rufus is used in Dutch, Czech, English, Finnish, German, Latvian, Polish & the Scandinavian languages.

Other forms include:

  • Rufit (Albanian)
  • R’owp’osy Ռուփոսյ (Armenian)
  • Rufess (Bavarian)
  • Ruf Руф (Bulgarian, Catalan, French, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian)
  • Roufaous (Coptic)
  • Rufinus (Dutch, German, Latin, Scandinavian)
  • Ruffe (Finnish)
  • Ruuhva, Ruuhvus (Finnish)
  • Ryffe, Ryyfys (Finnish)
  • Rufin (French, German, Polish)
  • Rhouphon Ροῦφον (Greek)
  • Rúfusz (Hungarian)
  • Ruffo (Italian)
  • Rufillo, Ruffillo (Italian)
  • Rufino (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
  • Rufo (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
  • Rufinus (Latin)
  • Rufas (Lithuanian)
  • Rupuha (Maori)
  • Rúfus (Slovak)

150px-Santa_RufinaIts feminine form of Rufina was borne by a couple of early saints, one of whom was from Seville, she was a pottery maker who refused to sell her wares for a pagan festival.

Feminine forms include

  • Roufina (Coptic)
  • Rufe (French)
  • Rufine (French)
  • Rufina Руфина (Dutch, English, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Scandinavian, Spanish)
  • Rufa (Italian)
  • Rufilla (Italian)

Sources

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