The English surname Ratliffe is an habitational name from any of the places, in various parts of England, called Ratcliff, Radcliffe, Redcliff, or Radclive, all of which derive their names from the Old English terms <em "mso-bidi-font-style:="" normal"="">read meaning “red” and clif  meaning “cliff,  slope or riverbank.” The earliest record of the name occurs in 1182 when Waler de Radecliva is registered in “The Pipe Rolls of Devonshire.” The name is first recorded in the New World in 1705 when Edward Ratliff arrived in Virginia from England. 

                     RATLIFFE RAISED CREST RING VARIANT SPELLING