riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (11/10/83)
The story goes in my family that our name "Riddle" was once "Riddlehoover"
and was shortened for obvious aesthetic reasons. "Riddlehoover" was
supposedly an anglicization of some German or Dutch name (Riedlhofer?).
I have found the name "Riddle" in many standard reference books on family
names (listed as having exclusively English origins), but never anything
that remotely resembles "Riddlehoover." So I have a question: is there
really a generic "-hoover" suffix which can be attached to anything at all?
If so, where did it come from and what should I do to try and track it down
in combination with "Riddle"? Any hints?
(I do have one purely anecdotal lead: Austrian and Bavarian acquaintances
tell me that "-hofer" is a common ending attached to the name of any farmer.
"-l-" is an even more common diminutive. The "Ried" is an area in present-
day Austria. The combination "Riedlhofer" would be a perfectly plausible
name for a country bumpkin family in Austria or sourthern Germany. I suspect
that one should take such speculation with a grain of salt, but it's the
most I've found so far.)
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Prentiss Riddle
{ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle
riddle@ut-sally.UUCP