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.

Rufus Rank in US Top 1000

# 991 in the US

Rufus Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 293 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Rufus

• 293 Nameberry 2025
• 374 England 2023
• 98 Dogs 2021

20 Names Similar to Rufus

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Rufus.

• Wilbur
• Barnaby
• Oswald
• Ernest
• Chester
• Wilfred
• Linus
• Clement
• Rupert
• Claude
• Angus
• Clarence
• Edgar
• Ralph
• Floyd
• Cecil
• Percy
• Sylvester
• Clyde
• Leopold

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

The name 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"

International Variations of the name Rufus

• Rufino Spanish