Rufus

Look up Rufus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Rufus is a masculine given name, a surname, an Ancient Roman cognomen and a nickname (from Latin rufus, "red"). Notable people with the name include:

Given name

Politicians

  • Marcus Caelius Rufus, (28 May 82 BC – after 48 BC), orator and politician in the late Roman Republic
  • Rufus Ada George (born 1940), Nigerian politician
  • Rufus Aladesanmi III (born 1945), Yoruban king
  • Rufus Applegarth (1844–1921), American lawyer and politician
  • Rufus A. Ayers (1849–1926), American lawyer, businessman, and politician
  • Rufus Barringer (1821–1895), American lawyer, politician, and military general
  • Rufus Blodgett (1834–1910), American politician and railroad superintendent
  • Rufus Bousquet (born 1958), Saint Lucian politician
  • Rufus E. Brown (1854–1920), Vermont attorney, farmer, and politician
  • Rufus Bullock (1834–1907), American politician
  • Rufus Carter (1866–1932), Canadian farmer and political figure
  • Rufus Cheney Jr., member of the Wisconsin State Assembly during the 1850 session
  • Rufus W. Cobb (1829–1913), American politician
  • Rufus Curry (1859–1934), Canadian manufacturer and politician
  • Rufus Davis (born 1964), mayor of Camilla, Georgia
  • Rufus B. Dodge Jr. (1861–1935), American lawyer and politician
  • Rufus A. Doughton (1857–1946), American politician
  • Rufus Easton (1774–1834), American lawyer and politician
  • Rufus L. Edmisten (born 1941), American politician and lawyer
  • Rufus Elefante (1903–1994), American politician from Utica, New York
  • Rufus Nelson England (1851–1911), Canadian merchant and political figure
  • Rufus S. Frost (1826–1894), American politician
  • Rufus King Garland Jr. (1830–1886), American politician
  • Rufus K. Goodenow (1790–1863), American politician
  • Rufus Hardy (representative) (1855–1943), American politician
  • Rufus Erastus Hart (1812–1891), American politician and lawyer
  • Rufus Henderson (1779–1847), Canadian physician, merchant and political figure
  • Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading (1860–1935), English politician and jurist
  • Rufus King (1755–1827), pre-Civil War US politician
  • Rufus H. King (1820–1890), American politician
  • Rufus E. Lester (1837–1906), American politician
  • Rufus Anderson Lyman (1842–1910), lawyer and politician in the Kingdom of Hawaii
  • Rufus Mallory (1831–1914), American educator, lawyer, and politician
  • Rufus P. Manson (1830–1897), American politician
  • Rufus McIntire (1784–1866), American lawyer, military officer, congressman, and land surveyor
  • Rufus Wheeler Peckham (1809–1873), American judge and congressman
  • Rufus W. Peckham (1838–1909), American jurist
  • Rufus Ferrand Pelletier (1824–?), American postmaster and politician
  • Rufus Phillips (1929–2021), American intelligence officer
  • Rufus Henry Pope (1857–1944), Canadian politician
  • Rufus King Polk (1866–1902), American politician
  • Rufus Pollock (born 1980), English economist
  • Rufus P. Ranney (1813–1891), American politician
  • Rufus Rodriguez (born 1953), Filipino politician
  • Rufus Smith (1766–1844), Canadian physician and politician
  • Rufus P. Spalding (1798–1886), American politician, lawyer and judge

Religious figures

Sportsmen

  • Rufus Alexander (born 1983), American football player
  • Rufus Bess (born 1956), American football player
  • Rufus Brevett (born 1969), English football player
  • Rufus Brown (born 1980), American football player
  • Rufus Crawford (born 1955), Canadian Football League player
  • Rufus Deal (1917–2005), American football player
  • Rufus French (born 1978), American football player
  • Rufus Gilbert (1885–1962), American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach
  • Rufus Granderson (1936–2015), American football player
  • Rufus Guthrie (1942–2000), American football player
  • Rufus Mayes (1947–1990), American football player
  • Rufus Meadows (1907–1970), American baseball player
  • Rufus B. Nalley (1870–1902), football, baseball, and track and field player
  • Rufus Porter (American football) (born 1965), American football player
  • Rufus Sisson (1890–1977), American basketball player
  • Rufus Skillern (born 1982), Canadian football player
  • Rufus Smith (baseball) (1905–1984), American baseball player

Performers

  • Rufus Beck (born 1957), German theater, film, and voice actor
  • Rufus Cappadocia, Canadian-American cellist
  • Rufus Carl Gordon, Jr. (1932-2010), commonly known as Carl Gordon, American actor
  • Rufus Harley (1936–2006), American jazz musician
  • Rufus Hound (born 1979), British comedian
  • Rufus Arthur Johnson (born 1976), better known as Bizarre, American rapper
  • Rufus Jones (actor) (born 1975), English actor, comedian and writer
  • Rufus "Speedy" Jones (1936–1990), American jazz drummer
  • Rufus Payne (1883–1939), American blues musician known as Tee Tot
  • Rufus Reid (born 1944), American jazz bassist, educator, and composer
  • Rufus Sewell (born 1967), British actor
  • Rufus C. Somerby (1832–1903), American entertainer, showman, and panoramist
  • Rufus Tiger Taylor (born 1991), English musician
  • Rufus Thibodeaux (1934–2005), American Cajun fiddler
  • Rufus Thomas (1917–2001), American singer
  • Rufus P. Turner (1907–1982), American electronics author
  • Rufus Wainwright (born 1973), Canadian-American singer-songwriter
  • Rufus Waller, better known as Scola, a member of Dru Hill, American singer and musician

Others

Surname

Cognomen or nickname

  • Rufus (born 1942), stage name of Italian-French actor Jacques Narcy
  • Rufus (Roman cognomen), list of people who had one of the most common of the ancient Roman cognomina
  • King William II of England (1050s–1100), called "William Rufus"
  • Alan Rufus (c. 1040–1089), companion of William the Conqueror
  • Richard Rufus of Cornwall (died 1260), English scholastic philosopher and theologian
  • Roger Squires, crossword compiler nicknamed Rufus

Animals

  • Rufus the Hawk, a bird used to keep pigeons away from the tennis grass courts at Wimbledon

Objects

  • the demon core, the plutonium nuclear weapon core that was involved in two deadly nuclear accidents, was originally nicknamed "Rufus"

Fictional characters

  • Rufus (Street Fighter), one of four new fighters in Street Fighter IV
  • Rufus the Bobcat, the mascot for Ohio University
  • Rufus, a naked mole rat from Disney's TV show Kim Possible; see List of Kim Possible characters
  • Rufus McCallister, a character in Ninjago
  • Rufus Carlin, a main character in the 2016 NBC show Timeless
  • Rufus Moffat, title character of the book Rufus M. by Eleanor Estes
  • Rufus Ruffcut, from Hanna-Barbera's TV show Wacky Races
  • Rufus Scrimgeour, from the Harry Potter universe; see Ministry of Magic
  • Rufus Shinra, from the Final Fantasy VII video games; see Characters of the Final Fantasy VII series
  • Rufus Turner, from the American television drama Supernatural; see List of Supernatural characters
  • Rufus XIV, King of Rubovia, in the 1955 British children's television series A Rubovian Legend
  • Rufus, from the film The Rescuers
  • Rufus, the forgotten 13th apostle in the film Dogma, played by Chris Rock
  • Rufus, protagonist of the children's cartoon series The Dreamstone
  • Rufus, time traveler in the films Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, played by George Carlin
    • Rufus, time traveler in the television Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures (1992 TV series), an adaptation of the above film, played by Rick Overton
  • Rufus Humphrey, a character in Gossip Girl
  • Rufus, a character in the movie Kill Bill: Volume 2, played by Samuel L. Jackson
  • Rufus T. Firefly, a character in the 1933 film Duck Soup, played by Groucho Marx

See also

  • Saint Rufus (disambiguation)
  • All pages with titles beginning with Rufus
Name list
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