Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a country bumpkin; a simpleton [stereotyping of Ralph as a peasant].

1665		Head Eng. Rogue I 98: I [...] pickt up a Rambler or two, and away we went to honest Ralph.
1675		Head Nugae Venales 193: Here lies honest Ralph, as dead as any man living.
1699		‘The Country-Man’s Ramble through Bartholomew fair’ in Playford Pills to Purge Melancholy I 55: The Volk vell a laughing at me; then the Vezen zaid, / Bezure Ralph, give it to Doll the Darry maid.
1700		‘Roger in Amaze’ in Wit’s Cabinet 150: Adzwounds Ralph, didst e’re zee zuch rogues and whores?
1769		Garrick England Run Mad 36: Honest Ralph comes boldly along [...] And why shou’d he not, since he can? / For Waunds, he’s Shakespeare’s Countryman.
1927		‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 460: Ralph, A fool.

2. (camp gay) an effeminate, timid or plain and undistinguished man [stereotyping as a ‘sissy’ name].

1964		R. Blake Amer. Dict. Sexual Terms 178: ralph, sl n. An effeminate or homosexual male, a molly.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.