La Roche
A French surname meaning “the rock,” usually referring to a rocky place or a house “at the rock.”
The #6,104 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 54,956 Americans shares it.
Etymology
La Roche is from French la roche, meaning “the rock.” It was originally a topographic name for someone who lived by a prominent rock, cliff, or rocky outcrop, or who came from a place called La Roche. The surname can also appear as Delaroche or in related forms where the article is attached or dropped.
History
The name is well established in France and appears in several aristocratic and place-based compound surnames such as La Rochefoucauld and La Rochejaquelein. In England, it was also adopted by some French newcomers; one source notes a Bordeaux-born Peter Crothaire who assumed the name Laroche, and whose grandson became a baronet. English spellings sometimes simplified or anglicized the name, and related forms could be confused with Roach.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Nineteenth-century surname writers explicitly linked English Roach to French Laroche, showing how names could shift shape when they crossed the Channel.
From the historical record
“of bacon. See Lardner. LAROCHE. Fr. la roche, the rock. See Eock. " Peter Crothaire, of the province of Bordeaux, came into England in the train of George, Prince of Denmark, and at the desire of his master assumed the name of Laroche." His grandson, James Laroche, was created a baronet in 1776. Burke's Ext. Barts.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom