Frequency: (141)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
English: topographic name for someone who lived by a small enclosed field (Old English croft) where rye (Old English ryge) was grown, or a habitational name from any of various minor places so named, such as Ryecoft in Gloucestershire or Cheshire.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
