Recorded in various spellings including Attride, Ridd, Ridde, Ride, Ryde, and Rude, this is an English surname. However spelt the surname research suggests that it derives from the pre 7th Century words 'ried or ryd' describing a clearing in the forest. However the International Genelogical Index lists it under Reed or Read, although we can find no evidence of any association. What is certain is that topographical surnames such as this one, which described where a person lived, by reference to a natural feature, were amongst the earliest created, and this is shown by the surname of Attride from a fusing of the Olde English 'atten ried'. Similar names include Noakes which was originally 'atten Oakes', or Athill formerly 'atten hyll'. This surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 12th Century, (see below), and other early examples include Robert de la Ryde, in the Calendar of Letter Books for Cambridgeshire in 1294, and Richard ate Rude, in the Ministers'Accounts of the Earldom of Cornwall in 1297. The Ryde family has owned lands in the parish of Ewhurst, Surrey since 1306, and recordings include Henry atte Ruyde in 1376; John Attryde in 1452; and Henry at Ryde (1487). Other examples of recordings include Roger Ridd of Braunton, Devon, on March 1st 1619, and John Ride who married Mary Basswater, at St James Church, Westminster, on February 9th 1689. The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Roger de la Rude. This was dated 1176, in the Pipe Rolls of Surrey, during the reign of King Henry 11nd, 1154 - 1189. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.