Durocher History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

From the beautiful region of Burgundy (French: Bourgogne), in France, comes the distinguished surname Durocher. Durocher is a topographic surname, a type of hereditary surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. As a general rule, the greater the distance between an individual and their homeland, the larger the territory they were named after. For example, a person who only moved to another parish would be known by the name of their original village, while people who migrated to a different country were often known by the name of a region or country from which they came. The name Durocher is derived from the French word "roche," meaning "rock," and indicates that the original bearer was distinguished by residence near a prominent rock.

Early Origins of the Durocher family

The surname Durocher was first found in Burgundy (French: Bourgogne), an administrative and historical region of east-central France, where this ancient family was recognized as one of the original families of the region. Saint Roch or Rocco (c. 1295-1327) was a Catholic saint, a confessor. He is a patron saint of dogs, falsely accused people, and bachelors. He may have been born c. 1348 and died c. 1376.

The house of des Roches de Chassay was cited since 1275. The family des Roches de Chassay had their nobility confirmed in 1663, after heroic service at the siege of Hesdin. The county of Bigorre, in Burgundy, was the cradle of the house de la Roche-Fontenille, distinguished by their alliances and who occupied in the twelfth century a high rank in the nobility of the province. Two of their members took part in the first crusade of Saint-Louis, but their affiliation was not established until Sanche de la Roche, lord of Fontenille, deceased in the year 1318.

Jean Desroches, born in 1621, travelled from France to Canada in the 17th century. After arriving in Quebec he married Françoise Gode, born in 1636, daughter of Nicolas and Françoise (née Gadois), at Montreal on 18th November 1647. They remained together in Quebec until Jean's death on 23rd August 1684. 1

Early History of the Durocher family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Durocher research. Another 123 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1470, 1530, 1644, 1658, 1668, 1710, 1724, 1741, 1797 and 1856 are included under the topic Early Durocher History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Durocher Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Roche, Delaroche, Deroche, Desroches, Desrochers, Laroche, La Roche and many more.

Early Notables of the Durocher family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Estienne de La Roche (1470-1530), a French mathematician; Anne de La Roche-Guilhem (1644-1710), a French writer; and Hippolyte de la Roche, also know as Paul, (1797-1856), a...
Another 34 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Durocher Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Durocher World Ranking

In the United States, the name Durocher is the 16,181^st most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2 However, in Canada, the name Durocher is ranked the 704^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,525 people with that name. 3 And in Quebec, Canada, the name Durocher is the 351^st popular surname. 4

Durocher migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Durocher Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Rene DuRocher, aged 16, who landed in Louisiana in 1719 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Durocher (post 1700) +

Jayson Paul Durocher (b. 1974), former Major League Baseball pitcher
Leo "The Lip" Durocher (1906-1991), American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball
Laurent Durocher, American politician, Member of Michigan State Senate 2nd District, 1835-36; Member of Michigan State House of Representatives from Monroe County, 1839; Supervisor of Frenchtown Township, Michigan, 1842-48 6
Olivier Durocher (1743-1821), Canadian farmer and political figure in Lower Canada
Olivier Durocher (1844-1931), Canadian politician, mayor of the city of Ottawa 1892 to 1893
Eugène Durocher (1881-1944), Canadian politician from Montreal
Marie-Rose Durocher (1811-1849), Canadian Roman Catholic nun, beatified by the Roman Catholic Church in 1982

Citations +

Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"Surnames Meanings, Origins & Distribution Maps - Forebears." Forebears, https://forebears.io/surnames
"The first 1,000 family names by rank, Quebec (in French only)" Institut de la statistique du Quebec, https://statistique.quebec.ca/en/document/family-names-in-quebec/tableau/the-first-1000-family-names-by-rank-quebec
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 4) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html