Desrochers History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

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

The surname Desrochers 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 Desrochers family

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

Desrochers Spelling Variations

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

Early Notables of the Desrochers family

More information is included under the topic Early Desrochers Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Desrochers World Ranking

In the United States, the name Desrochers is the 6,767^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 2 However, in Canada, the name Desrochers is ranked the 405^th most popular surname with an estimated 11,452 people with that name. 3 And in Quebec, Canada, the name Desrochers is the 156^th popular surname. 4

Migration of the Desrochers family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Charles DelaRoche who arrived in Maryland in 1655. Jacques Roche was established in Quebec in 1665. Antoine Laroche, at the age of twenty, arrived in Louisiana in 1720. Abraham Deroche arrived in Philadelphia in 1765..

Contemporary Notables of the name Desrochers (post 1700) +

John J. DesRochers (1930-1985), American Republican politician, Candidate in primary for Michigan State House of Representatives 58th District, 1964 5
Pierre Desrochers, Canadian politician, Chair of the Montreal Executive Committee (2013-2017), Member of the Montreal Executive Committee responsible for finances, human resources, and legal affairs (2013-2017)
Patrick DesRochers (b. 1979), Canadian retired ice hockey goaltender, Phoenix Coyotes first round draft pick (1998)
Odina Desrochers (b. 1951), Canadian politician, Member of Parliament for Lotbinière-L'Érable (1997-2004), Member of Parliament for Lotbinière-Chutes-de-la-Chaudière (2004-2006)
François Desrochers, Canadian politician and teacher from Quebec, Official Opposition's Shadow Minister of Education (2007-)
Jules Desrochers (1874-1939), Liberal party member of the Canadian House of Commons
Eugène Desrochers (b. 1885), Liberal party member of the Canadian House of Commons
Alain Desrochers, Canadian film director and screenwriter
Alfred Desrochers (1901-1978), French Canadian poet. He also composed several critical essays reunited under "Paragraphes" of 1931

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
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2017, April 12) John DesRochers. Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html