Where does the name Rutgers come from?

Answer 1

It is the Dutch form of Roger.
Means "famous spear" from the Germanic elements hrod "fame" and ger "spear". The Normans introduced this name to Britain, where it replaced the Old English cognate Hroðgar. The name belonged to a Norman lord who conquered Sicily from the Arabs in the 11th century. His son, Roger II, ruled Sicily as a king.

Answer 2

Colonel Henry Rutgers.

That is who the University in NJ is named after.

Chartered in 1766 as Queen’s College, the nation’s eighth institution of higher learning, Rutgers is one of only nine colonial colleges established before the American Revolution. Soon after opening in New Brunswick in 1771—with one instructor and a handful of students—the college was caught up in the struggle for independence. During the war, classes were suspended on several occasions as students, faculty, and alumni joined the fight for freedom. That revolutionary legacy is preserved today in the university’s name; in 1825, Queen’s College became Rutgers College to honor trustee and Revolutionary War veteran Colonel Henry Rutgers

A bachelor, he later donated the interest from a $5,000 bond and the central college bell which still hangs in the Old Queens building.

On December 1825, the trustees rename the college in honor of Colonel Henry Rutgers, a prominent laymen in the Dutch Church, president of its Board of Corporation, and a church elder.

The change of name from Queen's to Rutgers College can be attributed in large part to Philip Milledoler (1775-1852), the man who succeeded the Reverend John Henry Livingston as professor of theology in the seminary and who was soon elected by the Trustees as president of the College in 1825. It was in Dr. Milledoler's parish in New York City where Colonel Henry Rutgers served as elder. A devoted member of the Reformed Dutch Church, president of its Board of Corporation, and a wealthy bachelor who was inclined to support benevolent causes, Colonel Rutgers epitomized those Christian qualities held in such high esteem by the Synod and the College Trustees. By honoring Henry Rutgers, the Synod and Trustees were also signaling a break from an uneven past and the start of a new and promising era.

Answer 3

Rutgers Surname Origin
(Origin Dutch) Rudgert, the same as Roger, quiet, tranquil; one desirous of rest, a keeper of rest; Rodgarus, strong counsel.