This very interesting name is Middle English locational descriptive and means 'The dweller at the Clearing' (Ried) or the dweller at the small stream (Ride) as in Thames at Ride (1524, Surrey). This type of name is rare but by no means unknown, a popular example being Bytheway or Bywaters a less obvious example being Atlee (at the small farm). In the modern idiom there are at least four associated or variant spellings including Attride, Attryde, Attreed and Attridge, name development including John ate Ride (1446) and Henry ate Ryde (1524). The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Attryde, which was dated 1588, The Surrey County Records, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Good Queen Bess, 1558 - 1603. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.