Roster Family History
Roster Name Meaning
German (also Röster): occupational name for a lime burner smelter or blacksmith a variant of Rost 2 with the addition of the agent suffix -er. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic; also Röster): variant of Rost 3 with the addition of the agent suffix -er (compare 1 above). English: commonly a shortened form of Rossiter . English: in the West Midlands likely a habitational name from Rocester (Staffordshire) pronounced like the word roaster probably from Old English rūh ‘rough’ + ceaster ‘old (Roman) fortification’. Alternatively the name may arise from Wroxeter (Shropshire) but this is a doubtful explanation as no medieval evidence has been found of a surname derived from this place. Wroxeter on the site of a former Roman town is named with Old English ceaster ‘city fortified town’ which has been added to a pre-existing Brittonic name for it perhaps Viriconion ‘the town of a man named Virico’.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
