Aldrich

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family name of English origin, borne by several notable people including writers and scholars of the past
2. An English surname, shared by various historical figures in literature, academia and public life
3. A common English family name carried by many people, including the American poet Thomas Bailey

Etymology: Aldrich is an English surname, and its story begins with two Old English names that sounded alike enough to merge. One candidate is Ælfrīc, meaning "elf-ruler," and the other is Æðelrīc, meaning "noble ruler." Both were personal names in Anglo-Saxon England, built from the common pattern of pairing a element with "rīc," the word for power or rule. Over the centuries, the spellings drifted together, and the surname ended up carrying the same form whichever name lay behind any given family. Because the surname grew from a given name rather than a place or occupation, it belongs to a large group of English family names that were once simply the names of ancestors. The "-rich" ending survives in other names too, such as Henry and Frederick in their older forms, which share the same ruling element. The meaning of a surname like this is less a description of its bearer than a record of a name a forebear's parents chose, often with hopes of strength or nobility attached.