Rufus is a masculine given name, a surname, an Ancient Roman cognomen and a nickname (from Latin ''wikt:rufus, rufus'', "red"). Notable people with the name include:

Given name

Politicians

* 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 L. 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 Phillips (born 1929), American intelligence officer * Rufus Henry Pope (1857–1944), Canadian politician * Rufus King 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

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 (actor), 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 (rapper), 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 D. Hayes (1913–2002), American attorney, judge, and businessman * 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 B. Tebbetts (1828–?), American settler * 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 (actor), 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

Fictional characters

* Rufus (Street Fighter), 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, List of ''Kim Possible'' characters *Rufus Carlin, a main character in the 2016 NBC show ''Timeless'' * Rufus Moffat, title character of the book ''Rufus M.'' by Eleanor Estes * Rufus Ruffcut, from Hanna-Barbera's TV show ''Wacky Races (1968 TV series), Wacky Races'' * Rufus Scrimgeour, from the Harry Potter universe; see Ministry_of_Magic#Rufus_Scrimgeour, Ministry of Magic * Rufus Shinra, from the Final Fantasy VII video games; see Characters_of_the_Final_Fantasy_VII_series#Rufus_Shinra, Characters of the ''Final Fantasy VII'' series * Rufus Turner, from the American television drama ''Supernatural''; see List_of_Supernatural_characters#Rufus_Turner, List of ''Supernatural'' characters * Rufus XIV, King of Rubovia, in the 1955 British children's television series ''A Rubovian Legend'' * Rufus, from the film ''The Rescuers'' * Rufus, the forgotten 13th apostle in the film ''Dogma (film), Dogma'', played by Chris Rock * Rufus, polar bear character from the animated series ''SantApprentice''; see List of Santa%27s Apprentice characters#Rufus, List of ''Santa's Apprentice'' characters * 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), ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures'' (1992 TV series), an adaptation of the above film, played by Rick Overton * Rufus Humphrey, a character in ''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 (1933 film), ''Duck Soup'', played by Groucho Marx