Contents [hide]

Roch History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Roch History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France
Ireland

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

The surname Roch 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 Roch family

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

Roch Spelling Variations

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

Early Notables of the Roch 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

Roch Ranking

In Quebec, Canada, the name Roch is the 637^th most popular surname. 2 However, in France, the name Roch is ranked the 1,495^th most popular surname with an estimated 3,910 people with that name. 3

Roch migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Roch Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Roch, who landed in Virginia in 1643 4
Symon Roch, who landed in Virginia in 1654 4
Morris Roch, who arrived in Virginia in 1656 4
David Roch, who arrived in Virginia in 1661 4

Roch Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Cath Roch, who landed in Virginia in 1715 4
Elizabeth Roch, who landed in Virginia in 1725 4
Mary Roch, who landed in Virginia in 1725 4
Henrey Roch, aged 20, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1732 4
Jurick Mich Roch, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1738 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Roch Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Jacob Roch, aged 23, who landed in New York, NY in 1847 4

Roch migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Roch Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Paul Moritz Roch, who landed in Quebec in 1850

Roch migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Roch Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Hungerford Roch, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Ida Zeigler" in 1863

Contemporary Notables of the name Roch (post 1700) +

Emelien Roch (1864-1925), American Democratic Party politician, Physician; Candidate for Connecticut State House of Representatives from Thompson, 1918, 1920
René Roch (1929-2018), French fencing sport official, President of Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (1992-2008)
Sir John Ormond Roch PC (1934-2021), British jurist, Lord Justice of Appeal from 1993 to 2000
Gustav Roch (1839-1866), German mathematician who made significant contributions to the theory of Riemann surfaces; he died at the age 26 from tuberculosis
Gilles Roch (b. 1952), Canadian politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1986 to 1990
Walter Francis Roch (1880-1965), Welsh politician, Member of Parliament for Pembrokeshire (1908–1918)
André Roch (1906-2002), Swiss mountaineer, avalanche expert, skier and resort developer
François Roch Ledru des Essarts, French Divisional General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 5
Roch Pedneault (1927-2018), Canadian prelate, Auxiliary Bishop of Chicoutimi (1974–2002)
Roch La Salle PC (1928-2007), Canadian politician who represented the riding of Joliette in the Canadian House of Commons

Historic Events for the Roch family +

Bismarck

Herbert Roch (1918-1941), German Bootsmaat who served aboard the German Battleship Bismarck during World War II when it was sunk heading to France; he died in the sinking 6

Citations +

Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print
"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
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)
Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, April 8) François Ledru. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html
Bismarck & Tirpitz Class - Crew List Bismarck. (Retrieved 2018, February 06). Retrieved from https://www.bismarck-class.dk/bismarck/crew/bismarck_crew.html#crew_details