A Scottish and English surname, the name Riddle comes from the Old English and Celtic terms of ‘rye’ and ‘ryge’ which mean a valley area. There is also the Old French term ‘ridel’ which meant a small hill. The spelling variations for Riddle include Ridel, Riddell, Riddall and Riddells. In northern England the Riddle name is common. In Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Lancashire are the larger Riddle populations. Along the southern coast of England; in Hampshire, Kent, Surrey, Cornwall, Devon and Sussex are also large numbers of Riddle families. The Riddle surname is very popular in Scotland. The areas with the greater Riddle populations include Midlothian, East Lothian, Selkirkshire, Roxburghshire, Angus, Aberdeenshire, Ross & Cromarty, Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire counties. Within the United States the early Riddle families lived in Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina. Famous: Nelson Riddle (musical arranger and bandleader), Johnny Riddle (professional baseball player), Almeda Riddle (folk singer), Stu Riddle (professional footballer from New Zealand), Paul T. Riddle (musician - drummer), Samuel D. Riddle (founder of the Glen Riddle Farm for thoroughbred race horses), Jeremy Riddle (singer and musician) and John Paul Riddle (co-founder of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - a flying school).