Rufus

Latin
"red-head"

Rufus Origin and Meaning

The name Rufus is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "red-head".

Rufus is a rumpled, redheaded (it was the nickname for red-haired King William) ancient Roman name popular with saints and singers (e.g. Rufus Wainwright); now, Rufus is on the cutting edge of cool.

Fellow singer James Taylor named one of his twins Rufus, and Rufus Humphrey is a Gossip Girl character. Rufus Sewell is a commanding, intense English actor.

Rufus is mentioned in the New Testament as the name of a son of Simon the Cytherian, and there are several St. Rufuses. He's also a major figure in the George Eliot novel Felix Holt: The Radical, an honest and passionate preacher and politician.

# 991 in the US

Rufus Rank in US Top 1000

# 471 on Nameberry

Rufus Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Rufus Popularity

Famous People Named Rufus

  • Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright
    Canadian singer,songwriter
  • Rufus King
    U.S. senator from New York
  • Rufus Choate
    U.S. senator from Massachusetts
  • Rufus Frederik Sewell
    English actor
  • Rufus Thomas
    American R&B singer
  • Rufus Reid
    American jazz bassist
  • Rufus Arthur Johnson aka Bizarre
    American rapper
  • Rufus Cooper III aka Young Noble
    American rapper
  • Rufus Wilmot Griswold
    American anthologist and poet
  • Rufus R. "Freight Train" Jones (born Carey L. Lloyd)
    American pro wrestler
  • Rufus Smith Frost
    U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts
  • Rufus
    mentioned in Paul's letter to the Romans (16:13)
  • Rufus Tiger Taylor (b. 1991)
    American musician of The Darkness; son of drummer Roger Taylor of Queen
  • Rufus William Rawdon Slim (b. 1995)
    son of the 2nd Viscount Slim
  • Rufus Logan Taylor (b. 2001)
    son of singer/songwriter James Taylor; twin brother Henry David
  • Rufus Murphy Dunstan
    one of the triplet sons of Australian youtubers Rohan and Chloe Dunstan (Life with Beans); siblings are Evan, Otto, Felix, Henry, & Pearl
  • Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland
    Canadian actor

Rufus in Pop Culture

  • Rufus
    the 13th apostle in film "Dogma"
  • Rufus
    character in movie "Kill Bill"
  • Rufus Barma
    character in the manga/anime "Pandora Hearts"
  • Rufus Scrimgeour
    character in the "Harry Potter" series
  • Rufus
    naked mole rat on animated series "Kim Possible"
  • Rufus ShinRa
    character in video game "Final Fantasy VII"
  • Rufus "Roofy" Jones
    baby in Nick Hornby's "Slam"
  • Rufus Humphrey
    character on TV's "Gossip Girl"
  • Rufus Sixsmith
    character in David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas"
  • Rufus Lore
    character in manga and anime 'Fairy Tail'
  • Rufus Weylin
    despicable slaveowner in Octavia Butler's "Kindred"
  • Rufus
    time,traveling character in the "Bill & Ted" franchise
  • Rufus Turner
    character on TV's "Supernatural"
  • Rufus Raven
    character in Jenny Nimmo's "The Children of the Red King" series
  • Rufus Hodgekiss
    character in "The Author's Apprentice"
  • Rufus
    villain in TV's "House of Anubis"
  • Rufus T. Firefly
    Groucho Marx's character in "Duck Soup"