Meaning: Its source is an Old English expression meaning "Lake full of rudd (fish)."

Narrative: The parents of poet Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) named him after the place where they first met, Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire, England. Finding the derivation of that place name has proven difficult, and the meaning given is speculative.

Another possible meaning is ''lake near a field of rue,'' and yet another educated guess is ''red enclosure.''