Contents [hide]

Ros History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables World Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Ros History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland/England
Scotland
Spain
Ireland

The name Ros comes from the ancient Norman culture that was established in Britain after the Conquest of 1066. It was a name for a person who had the given name Andrew, which is derived from Anrias. The name may also be a nickname derived from the Old English word rouse, which means red or red-haired. 1

Early Origins of the Ros family

The surname Ros was first found in Yorkshire, although there seems to be two distinct origins of this surname. This history discusses in detail the English/Scottish borders origin of the name. For this origin, the first reference of the name was Godfrey de Ross, a vassal of the de Morevilles, obtaining from Richard de Moreville the lands of Stewarton in Cuningham. 2

This family of Ros or Ross came from Yorkshire. James de Ros, Reginald de Ross and Peter de Ross appear about the same time also as vassals of Richard de Moreville. These people are also listed as witnesses in his charters. The aforementioned Godfrey de Ross witnessed de Moreville's charter of Gillemoristun with Edulfus filius Utredi c. 1189. A few years later in 1205, Sir Godfrey de Rose, Arthur de Ross and Fergus de Rosse witnessed an agreement between the burgesses of Irvine and Brice of Eglunstone.

Robert de Ros or Rosse (d. 1227), "baron, was the son of Everard de Ros of Helmsley or Hamlake in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The family also held lands in Holderness, where was situated Ros, to which they gave, or from which they received, their name. Robert succeeded to his father's lands in 1191, paying a relief of one thousand marks. In 1195 he was bailiff and castellan of Bonneville-sur-Touques in Lower Normandy, near which the Norman lands of the family lay." 3

"The manor [at Roos, Yorkshire] was from the reign of Henry I. the seat and property of the noble family of Roos, one of whose barons had the glory of leading the second division of the English army at the battle of Cressy. The site is still visible of the castle of the former barons; and in part of the old moat have been lately found a misericorde dagger and some amber beads. The place confers the original title on the present family of De Ros." 4

Early History of the Ros family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ros research. Another 169 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1296, 1363, 1370, 1372, 1390, 1394, 1396, 1403, 1404, 1413, 1414, 1455, 1508 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Ros History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ros Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Ros, Roose, Ross, Ruse and others.

Early Notables of the Ros family

Notable amongst bearers of this family name during their early history was

The 5th Earl of Ross, William, who died in 1372
Edmund de Ros, 10th Baron de Ros of Helmsley (c.1455-1508), a follower of the House of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses

Ros World Ranking

In the United States, the name Ros is the 14,776^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 5 However, in France, the name Ros is ranked the 2,702^nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,000 - 2,500 people with that name. 6 And in Netherlands, the name Ros is the 417^th popular surname with an estimated 3,967 people with that name. 7

Migration of the Ros family to Ireland

Some of the Ros family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 60 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ros migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Ros or a variant listed above were:

Ros Settlers in United States in the 16th Century

Anton de Ros, who sailed to America in 1526
Juan Ros, who sailed to Peru in 1579

Ros Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Frederig Ros, who landed in New York in 1709 8
Henrich Ros, who arrived in Frederick County, Maryland in 1769 8

Ros Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Francisco Ros, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1816 8
Anton De Ros, who arrived in America in 1826 8
J R Ros, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 8
David Ros, who landed in St Clair County, Illinois in 1860 8
Narciso Ros, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1860 8
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Ros (post 1700) +

Manuel León Ros, American politician, Honorary Consul for Cuba at Pascagoula, Mississippi, 1909 9
Giuseppe "Bepi" Ros (1942-2022), Italian bronze medalist heavyweight boxer at the 1964 Olympics
Manon Steffan Ros (b. 1983), Welsh novelist, playwright, games author, scriptwriter and musician; she is the author of over twenty children's books and three novels for adults, all in Welsh, her award-winning novel Blasu has been translated (by the author) into English, under the title of The Seasoning
Álvaro Rodríguez Ros (1936-2018), commonly known as Alvarito, was a Spanish football defender and manager
Edmundo William Ros OBE (1910-2011), born Edmund William Ross, Trinidadian musician, vocalist, arranger and bandleader
Arno Ros (b. 1942), German philosopher, Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg
Ros Drinkwater (b. 1944), Scottish actress, born in Glasgow

The Ros Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Spem successus alit
Motto Translation: Success nourishes hope

Citations +

Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
"Most Common Last Names in Netherlands." Forebears, https://forebears.io/netherlands/surnames
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, October 7) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html