Relph

The English family name Relph is classified as being of personal name origin. According to scholars the "oldest and most pervasive type of surname is that derived from a personal name". Such family names may be derived from a parental first name or from the front name of the grandfather, or indeed a more remote ancestor of the original bearer of the surname. In this case, the surname "Relph" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name "Richolf", derived from the Old German "Ricwulf", meaning "power wolf". The form "Riulf" from the Old French became popular at a later stage, probably due to the Normans who settled in England in the eleventh century. Variants of the surname "Relph" include "Relf", "Relfe" and "Realff".

One of the earliest references to this surname or to its variants is a record of one Robert Realf who resided in Sussex in 1327. The modern spelling of most English surnames is comparatively recent and is found in parish registers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The son of John Relph was christened in Saint Alphage's Church, in Greenwich, in October, 1655. Alice Relph of Westhouse, Charntan-in-Consdale, Yorkshire, was born circa 1656. Abraham Relph, son of John and Elizabeth Relph, was christened in Meeting House-Independent Church, Huddlesceugh, in Cumberland, on the 17th of March, 1714. Another Abraham Relph, son of Francis and Ann Relph, was christened in Gwennap, in Cornwall, on the 13th of May 1770. Ada Mary Relph, daughter of William and Mary Relph, was christened in Saint Peter's Church, in Liverpool, on the 21st August, 1861.