Show ContentsRosseau History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

From the historical and enchanting region of France emerged a multitude of noble families, including the distinguished Rosseau family. Originally, the French people were known only by a single name. The process by which hereditary surnames were adopted in France is extremely interesting. Surnames evolved during the Middle Ages when people began to assume an extra name to avoid confusion and to further identify themselves. Often they adopted names that were derived from nicknames. Nickname surnames were derived from an eke-name, or added name. They usually reflected the physical characteristics or attributes of the first person that used the name. The name Rosseau is a nickname type of surname for a person with red hair or a ruddy complexion. Tracing the origin of the name further, we found the name Rosseau was originally derived from the Old French word "rous," meaning "red."

Early Origins of the Rosseau family

The surname Rosseau was first found in Burgundy (French: Bourgogne), an administrative and historical region of east-central France, where the family held a family seat since ancient times.

Early History of the Rosseau family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Rosseau research. Another 265 words (19 lines of text) covering the years 1626, 1644, 1662, 1671, 1694, 1699, 1712, 1728, 1741, 1778 and 1871 are included under the topic Early Rosseau History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Rosseau Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Rousseau, Rouseau, Rosseau, Rouseault, Roussault, Rouseult, Rosault, Rosseault, Rousult, DeRousseau, Derousseau, de Rousseau, De Rousault, de Rousault, Derousult, DeRouseau, de Rouseau, De Rouseau, LeRousseau, le Rousseau, Lerousseau, Aurousseau and many more.

Early Notables of the Rosseau family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), French philosopher, writer, and composer, his political philosophy influenced the French Revolution, best known for his Discourse on the Origin of Inequality and On the Social Contract; Jacques Rousseau (1626-1694)...
Another 41 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Rosseau Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Rosseau migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Rosseau Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Lewis Peter Godfrey Rosseau, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1848 [1]
Rosseau Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
  • Fernand Rosseau, aged 28, who landed in America, in 1907
  • Leonard Rosseau, aged 40, who landed in America, in 1909
  • Percival L. Rosseau, who immigrated to the United States, in 1912
  • Nancy Rosseau, aged 39, who landed in America, in 1916
  • H. Ewing Rosseau, aged 21, who immigrated to the United States, in 1920
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Rosseau (post 1700) +

  • Gail Linskey Rosseau (b. 1956), American physician, Director of skull base surgery of NorthShore University HealthSystem
  • David Rosseau, American politician, Representative from New York 13th District, 1892 [2]
  • Jacques Rosseau, French gold medalist slalom canoer at the 1949 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships


  1. 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)
  2. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, March 9) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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