De roche History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

From the beautiful region of Burgundy (French: Bourgogne), in France, comes the distinguished surname De roche. De roche 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 De roche 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 De roche family

The surname De roche 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 De roche family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our De roche 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 De roche History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

De roche Spelling Variations

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

Early Notables of the De roche 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 De roche Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

De roche Ranking

In the United States, the name De roche is the 11,892^nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2 However, in France, the name De roche is ranked the 2,866^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,000 - 2,500 people with that name. 3

De roche migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

De roche Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Louis DeRoche, aged 26, who landed in Louisiana in 1719 4
Henry DeRoche, who arrived in South Carolina in 1735 4
Abraham Deroche, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1765
Abraham DeRoche, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1765 4

Contemporary Notables of the name De roche (post 1700) +

Marcel Deroche (b. 1952), American professional football player
Craig M. Deroche (b. 1970), American Republican Party politician from Michigan, 69th Speaker of the House of Representatives for the U.S. state of Michigan (2005-2006)
David DeRoche, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate in primary for Michigan State Senate 38th District, 1978 5
Maria Deroche (1938-2023), Brazilian-born French architect
Jean Deroche (b. 1963), Canadian professional hockey player
Hammel Madden Deroche (1840-1916), Canadian lawyer and politician, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for Addington (1871-1883)

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/
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
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 19) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html