Welcome to our DNA project for Ridouts,Rideouts, Rydeouts, Riddouts and the many, perhaps as yet undiscovered, variants of this name [hereinafter referred to simply as ‘Rid(e)out'].

For the purposes of this project we are using a 37 marker yDNA test, which can only inform you about a direct male line and hence, it is of the most value to you if your surname is Rid(e)out (or if you have a completely different surname but know that you have Rid(e)out male ancestors). If you are a man, you can submit your own DNA sample (mouth swab) but if you are a woman you will have to find a male relative, for example your father, brother, cousin &c to take the test on your behalf.

The first known historic record of the use of the surname Ridout, or a variant, was in 1247 whenElyas Rydhut was summoned to sit upon the jury of the Manor of Montacute in Somerset England. The family appear in the Lay Subsidy Rolls [tax returns] of 1322 and 1327 in four parishes. In the Protestation Oaths of 1641-2, taken by every male over the age of 18, they appear in 33 parishes with 12 variations in the spelling. In the Hearth Tax Returns of 1641/2 for Dorset [including women] there are 41 entries [excluding those who could not pay the parish rates]. This slow spread of the name is said to indicate that it originates with just one man.

Today, there are now some 1,400 Rid[e]outs in the UK; about 3,000 in Newfoundland & Labrador and many families in Canada, USA, New Zealand & Australia. Those who have tested here with our yDNA project so far include residents of the USA, Canada, and England [from the counties of Somerset & Dorset]. Early indications are that there is only one Rid[e]out progenitor, although test results have also highlighted one ‘non-paternal’ event, which occurred some 340 years ago; at least one other is known of a similar age and both appear in the historic record.

Some men here, with families now in Canada and Maryland USA, have fully researched their family trees going back as far as the 1650s and originating in Sherborne, Dorset. Some UK testers have also built substantial family trees but more participants are needed before it can be proved that collectively we are all one, with a common ancestor. We also need the two branch lines of non paternal events to be clearly identified.