Roughent History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsThe illustrious surname Roughent is classified as a habitation surname, which was originally derived from a place-name, and is one form of surname belonging to a broader group called hereditary surnames. Habitation names were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Topographic names, form the other broad category of surnames that was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Early Origins of the Roughent familyThe surname Roughent was first found in Durham where they held a family seat from very early times and were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D. Early History of the Roughent familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Roughent research. Another 83 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1350, 1366, 1393, 1618, 1639, 1692 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Roughent History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Roughent Spelling VariationsSince the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules, Breton surnames have many spelling variations. Latin and French, which were the official court languages, were also influential on the spelling of surnames. The spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules. Therefore, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England after the Norman Conquest, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. The name has been spelled Roan, Rohan, Roohan, Rome, Rowan and others. Early Notables of the Roughent familyOutstanding amongst the family at this time was William Rougham (died 1393), the second master of Gonville Hall, Cambridge. He had been a fellow of the college since the 1350s... Migration of the Roughent family to IrelandSome of the Roughent family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. Migration of the Roughent familySome of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Roughent, or a variant listed above: Elizabeth Roan settled with her husband in Georgia in 1733; Banks Roane arrived in Surinam in 1678; Christopher Roan settled in Maryland in 1774; George Roan settled in Georgia in 1733.
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