My great grandfather Zalman Rudman emigrated from Zaslav in what is now Ukraine in 1894. I would like to know the etymology of the Rudman surname. I believe he pronounced it “Roodman”. I have consulted “A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire” by Alexander Beider but did not find it very helpful. Any information or suggestions would be very much appreciated.
BJ Rudman

According to Dr. Beider, the name means "husband of Ruda" in Yiddish.  There are some Ashkenazi last names that were formed as "husband of <female given name>".

Mike Vayser

The word "Rudy" (roo-dy) means "redhead" in Polish and Ukrainian. This might be the answer. Another similar word in Russian "ruda" (roo-da) means "ore".
BTW, my wife's family name is Rootman, somewhat similar. Her ancestors came to Canada from Belarus.

Efraim Gavrilovich

 

 

 

)

Family oral history has it that my great great Grandfather Mair Lieb Rudman, possibly from Zaslav, or Bilogorodka, or Sedilka in Ukraine,  had Red hair. Interesting since no one else in the family has red hair?
Bob Roudman
San Rafael, CA

I had a similar quest with the name ROTKOVITZ / RODKOVITZ/ RUDKOVITZ. I was thinking that the name meant "son of the redhead". But, Dr. Beider said that it more likely meant "son of Roda".  Sure enough, after years of digging, we found that there were Revision List & Tax List records from 1795 & 1808 that showed that the family matriarch was named Rode.

Alexander Beider does it again!
--
Peter Cohen
California

Bob Roudman -

Regarding red hair and the Rudman name, it’s important to remember that red hair is a recessive gene. It would come out unless both parents had a recessive red hair gene. These things are important to remember when using appearance as a comparison. 

Shelley Mitchell, NY

On Jul 8, 2021, at 9:23 AM, bjrudman@... wrote:

I have consulted “A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire” by Alexander Beider but did not find it very helpful.

Beider gives two etymologies and cites several locations where the name appears in records -- in what sense was this not helpful?

David Brostoff

I'm glad I caught this thread. I have Rudman ancestors from Zaslav/Izaslav, my great-aunt Vera was a redhead, don't have any photos of the Rudman scion, however. My mother's cousin, Viktor Rudman, who emigrated to Israel, provided me with a family tree that goes back to late 1800s/early 1900s, and I can check for Zalman and Aron Lieb. I have some relatives in my tree on geni.com, but am trying to figure out how to move to ancestry.com, as I recently ordered a DNA test. I look forward to connecting.
--
Erica Fox Zabusky (Pittsburgh, PA)
ZABUSKI - Czestochowa, Sochaczew
FRYDMANN - Sochaczew
BRAUN, PANKOWSKI - Czestochowa
FIKSEL, RUDMAN - Izaslav, Slavuta, Odessa, Kharkov
POLISZUK, GOLDMAN - Izaslav, Slavuta

Erica Fox Zabusky
MODERATOR NOTE: Please reply privately with family information