Dudley

English
"Dudda's meadow"

Dudley Origin and Meaning

The name Dudley is a boy's name of English origin meaning "Dudda's meadow".

It's easy to love a name that rhymes with "cuddly" and is also attached to the surname Do-Right -- once you ignore the "dud" connection.

Dudley has aristocratic roots--the name was originally famous via a sixteenth century noble British family, one member of which, Robert Dudley, came close to marrying Queen Elizabeth I.

Dudley was the name of the angel played by Cary Grant in "The Bishop's Wife," later remade with Denzel Washington in the role, while Dudley Dursley is a Harry Potter character. The name's most well known bearer in modern times was comic actor Dudley Moore.

# 925 in the US

Dudley Rank in US Top 1000

# 2514 on Nameberry

Dudley Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Dudley Popularity

Famous People Named Dudley

  • Dudley Randall
    African,American poet and civil rights activist
  • Dudley Sargent DeGroot
    American NFL football coach
  • Dudley Robert Herschbach
    American chemist and Nobel prize winner
  • Dudley Stuart John Moore
    English actor
  • Dudley Sutton
    English actor best known for TV's "Lovejoy"
  • Dudley Senanayake
    2nd prime minister of Ceylon
  • Sir Alfred "Dudley" Pound
    English admiral of the fleet who fought in WWI
  • The Dudley Boyz
    American pro wrestling tag team
  • Dudley O’Shaughnessy
    English boxer and model
  • Dudley Foster
    English TV actor
  • Dudley “Declaime” Perkins
    American rapper
  • Sir Dudley Ryder
    English lawyer, politician, and member of the House of Commons
  • Dudley Carleton
    1st Viscount Dorchester, Elizabethan secretary of state
  • Dudley Simpson
    Australian composer
  • Dudley Wrangel Clarke
    British WWII general
  • (Howard) Dudley Hart
    American golfer
  • Dudley Nichols
    American screenwriter
  • Anne Dudley Bradstreet
    17th century Puritan poet

Dudley in Pop Culture

  • Dudley Dursley
    character in the Harry Potter series
  • Dudley Ramsey
    character from TV's "Diff'rent Strokes"
  • Dudley Do
    Right, character in animated series "Rocky & Bullwinkle"
  • Dudley Heinsburgen
    character from the movie “The Royal Tenenbaums”
  • Dudley Borough
    West Midlands, England.
  • Dudley
    Angel in “The Bishop’s Wife”
  • Dudley
    character in video game "Street Fighter"
  • Dudley Puppy
    lead character in TV’s “T.U.F.F Puppy”
  • “Then Comes Dudley”
    a song by The Jesus Lizard (1991)