Ratcliff is a name that first reached England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Ratcliff family lived in Lancashire, at Radcliffe. The name of this place translates as red cliff, from its Saxon origin and indicates that originally the town was distinguished by its proximity to such a landmark on the east side of Irwell. Ratcliff has been recorded under many different variations, including Radcliffe, Radcliff, Radclyffe, Ratliffe, Ratliff, Ratlife and many more.

In the United States, the name Ratcliff is the 2,609th most popular surname with an estimated 12,435 people with that name.

Ratcliffe Manor, occasionally misspelled as "Radcliffe Manor", is a Georgian colonial home completed around 1762 by Henry Hollyday. It gets its name from the "Mannour of Ratcliffe", which is one of the Maryland Eastern Shore's oldest land grants. The dwelling is considered one of the most distinctive plantation houses on Maryland's Eastern Shore, with a northeast facade on the land approach side and a nearly identical southwest facade on the river approach side. The entire property is included in the Maryland Historical Trust's Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties. A set of photographs of the estate, made in the 1930s and 1940s, is part of the Historic American Buildings Survey administered by the Library of Congress and National Park Service.