Although there is no official “Reeves Clan,” spelling variations of this family name include: Reve, Reave, Reaves, Reavis, Reeve, Reves, Rives, Ryves and others. If you are searching for family members and/or ancestors, please feel free to browse through our site. Also, if you have any questions, or additional information that you think we may need, do not hesitate to contact us. We believe in the Reeves Motto: “Animum Rege” (Motto Translated: “Rule thy mind”). The Ryves or Rives family is of French derivation… Even after a separation of four or more centuries from France, the “i” in “Rives,” as also the “y” in “Ryves,” is pronounced as the French “i,” that is to say, like the English double “e” in “Reeves.” As a general rule… The final “s” in French is not pronounced; and, it might be expected, therefore, that the early generations in England would have pronounced the name, “Reve.”¹ Today the name of Ryves in England is virutally extinct.²

General Information about the name Reeves³

• patronymic from Reeve
  • English (most common in East Anglia): from Middle English reeve, an occupational name for a steward or bailiff, the precise character of whose duties varied from place to place and at different periods.

• topographic name for someone who lived on the margin of a wood, from a misdivision of the Middle English phrase atter eves ‘at the edge’ (Old English æt þære efese).

¹ Childs, JR. Reliques of the Rives. Lynchburn, VA: J.P. Bell Company Inc; 1929:18

² Childs, JR. Reliques of the Rives. Lynchburn, VA: J.P. Bell Company Inc; 1929:19

³ Hanks, P, ed. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press; 2003.