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
See also
Name listThis page or section lists people that share the same given name or the same family name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article. Categories: