Rufus

Last updated June 04, 2025

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 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 Pettibone (1784–1825), justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri
Rufus Phillips (1929–2021), American intelligence officer
Rufus Henry Pope (1857–1944), Canadian politician
Rufus K. 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
Rufus P. Tapley (1823–1893), justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court

Religious figures

Rufus (biblical figure), a first-century Christian mentioned in Mark 15:21
Rufus Anderson (1796–1880), American minister
Rufus Babcock (1798–1895), American clergyman and academic
Rufus Brome (born 1935), Bishop of Barbados
Rufus Hollis Gause (1925–2015), American theologian
Rufus Halley (c. 1944–2001), Roman Catholic missionary in the Philippines
Rufus K. Hardy (1878–1945), leader and missionary in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Rufus Phineas Stebbins (1810–1885), American clergyman

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

Rufus Travis Amis (1912–2007), American entrepreneur
Rufus William Bailey (1793–1863), American academic
Rufus Black (born 1969), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tasmania
Rufus Bowen (1947–1978), American professor of mathematics
Rufus S. Bratton (1892–1958), American intelligence officer
Rufus Columbus Burleson (1823–1901), American academic
Rufus T. Bush (1840–1890), American businessman, oil refining industrialist, and yachtsman
Rufus Choate (1799–1859), American lawyer and orator
Rufus Early Clement (1900–1967), American academic
Rufus Cole (1872–1966), American medical doctor
Rufus Cowles Crampton (1828–1888), American educator
Rufus Dawes (1838–1899), American military officer
Rufus C. Dawes (1867–1940), American businessman
Rufus Dayglo, English comics artist
Rufus of Ephesus, 1st-century Greco-Roman physician and anatomist
Rufus Estes (b. 1857 - d.1939), an American chef aboard luxury railway Pullman Company
J. Rufus Fears (1945–2012), American historian, scholar, teacher and author
Rufus Fitzgerald (1890–1966), American academic at the University of Pittsburgh
Rufus Flint (c. 1865 – c. 1895), American Nicaraguan professor of English and mathematics
Rufus Edward Foster (1871–1942), American jurist
Rufus Franklin (1916–1975), American criminal
Rufus Henry Gilbert (1832–1885), American surgeon and inventor
Rufus Wilmot Griswold (1815–1857), American anthologist, editor, poet, and critic
Rufus Hannah (1954–2017), aka "Rufus the Stunt Bum", of Bumfights fame
Rufus Carrollton Harris (1897–1988), American academic
Rufus G. Herring (1921–1996), American military officer and Medal of Honor winner
Rufus Hessberg, American doctor and aeromedical scientist
Rufus C. Holman (1877–1959), American politician and businessman
Rufus K. Howell (1820–1890), Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court
Rufus Hussey (1919–1994), American slingshot marksman
Rufus Ingalls (1818–1893), American military general
Rufus Henry Ingram (1834–?), American bushwhacker
Rufus Isaacs (game theorist) (1914–1981), American mathematician
Rufus Zenas Johnston (1874–1959), American military officer and Medal of Honor winner
Rufus Jones (writer) (1863–1948), American writer, philosopher and Quaker
Rufus R. Jones (1933–1993), American wrestler
Rufus Keppel, 10th Earl of Albemarle (born 1965), product designer and founder of a men's-shirt company
Rufus King (general) (1814–1876), American newspaper editor, educator, diplomat, and military general
Rufus King (writer) (1893–1966), American author of crime novels
Rufus King Jr. (1838–1900), American military officer
Rufus B. von KleinSmid (1875–1964), American academic
Rufus Osgood Mason (1830–1903), American physician, teacher, and researcher in parapsychology and hypnotherapy
Rufus May (born 1968?), British clinical psychologist
Rufus McCain (1903–1940), American prisoner at Alcatraz
Rufus Naylor (1882–1939), Australian sporting entrepreneur and gambler
Rufus Norris (born 1965), British theatre director
Rufus Palmer (1828–1873), Canadian physician and political figure
Rufus Porter (painter) (1792–1884), American painter, inventor, and founder of Scientific American magazine
Rufus Putnam (1738–1824), American military officer
Rufus N. Rhodes (1856–1910), American newspaper editor
Rufus G. Russell (1823–1896), American architect
Rufus Sage (1817–1893), American writer, journalist and mountain man
Rufus Saxton (1824–1908), American military general
Rufus Stephenson (1835–1901), Canadian newspaper editor and political figure
Rufus Stokes (1922–1986), American inventor
Rufus of Thebes, bishop of Thebes in Greece, referenced in Romans 16:13
Rufus Welch (1800–1856), American circus impresario
Rufus Corbin Wood (1818–1885), sheriff of Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Rufus Yerxa (born 1951), American Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization
Rufus Fairchild Zogbaum (1849–1925), American illustrator, journalist and author

Surname

Alexis Rufus (born 1979), English Muay Thai kickboxer
Anneli Rufus, American journalist
Geoffrey Rufus (died 1141), English Bishop and Lord Chancellor
Milan Rúfus (1928–2009), Slovak poet and writer
Richard Rufus (born 1975), English football player

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 Emeterio, a character in the novel They Both Die at the End
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 1977 animated 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, an anthropomorphic raccoon skin from the 2017 video game Fortnite
Rufus Humphrey, a character from the television series 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

Rufus

Contents

Given name

Politicians

Religious figures

Sportsmen

Performers

Others

Surname

Cognomen or nickname

Animals

Objects

Fictional characters

See also