Rochester Family History
Rochester Name Meaning
English (Northumberland and Durham):: habitational name from one of three places in Northumberland with names whose early spellings are very similar and sometimes difficult to distinguish from each other. Rudchester in Ovingham is probably the likeliest source of the surname which is concentrated in the southern half of Northumberland but Rochester parish and a lost Ruchester in Chollerton are both possible candidates. Rudchester in Ovingham may derive from Old Norse rauthr ‘red’ + Old English ceaster ‘(Roman) city old fortification’. Rochester parish derives from an uncertain first element + Old English ceaster. The lost Ruchester in Chollerton probably derives from Old English rūh ‘rough’ + ceaster as does Rocester (Staffordshire) for which see Roster . occasionally a habitational name from the better-known city of Rochester (Kent) recorded by Bede (c. 730) under the names of both Dorubrevi and Hrofæcæstre. The former represents the original British name composed of the elements duro- ‘fortress’ and brīvā ‘bridge’. The second represents a shortened form of this (possibly affected by folk etymological connection with Old English hrōf ‘roof’) combined with an explanatory Old English cæster ‘Roman fort’ (from Latin castra ‘military camp’). In other cases there may also have been confusion with Wroxeter in Shropshire recorded in Domesday Book as Rochecestre. Compare Register and Rossiter .
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
