Rittenour Family History

Alternatively, an Americanized form of South German Rittenauer is a habitational name for someone from a place called Rittenau in Austria (from Ritten ‘steep slope’ + Au ‘wet meadow’).

It can also derive from Rüttenauer, a topographic name from Middle High German riute ‘clearing’ + ouwe ‘wet field, water meadow’, with the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant.

A variant of this surname is Ritenour, which is of German origin.

Additionally, it relates to the surname Ridenour.