Family name origins & meanings
- German : derivative of Middle High German (ge)riute ‘clearing’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived in a clearing or an occupational name for a clearer of woodland. Reut(e) and Reit are frequent elements of place names, indicating location in a forest or former forest.
- German : derogatory nickname from Middle High German riutære ‘footpad’, ‘highwayman’; later, possibly an occupational name for a mounted soldier (see Reiter).