Rochester
A surname usually taken from the city of Rochester in Kent, originally meaning a fortified Roman stronghold by the Medway.
The #8,238 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 76,726 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Rochester is a place-name surname from the city of Rochester in Kent. The traditional explanation, followed by Bede and repeated by later writers, derives the first element from an Old English personal name plus ceaster, meaning a Roman fort or walled town, ultimately from Latin castrum, “fortress.” Some 19th-century scholars noted that the name may have an older Brittonic-Roman background, so the exact first element is not entirely certain.
History
The surname would have arisen for someone identified as being from Rochester or from land connected with the town. Later bearers may reflect independent adoption from other places called Rochester, including Rochester in Northumberland. The name is much less common as a surname than as a place-name, but it follows the standard English locational pattern.
Origin
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Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Old English element ceaster appears in many English place-names ending in -chester, -caster, or -cester.
From the historical record
“name. ROCHESTER. Bel. to Rochester (Kent), the A.-Sax. (7th cent.) Hrdfes-ceaster, i.e. Hr6f's (Roman) Stronghold [the pers. name is app. O.K. hrdf, m., (lit. roof), sky, heaven, in the genit. -|- 0,E. ceaster, a fortified place ; Lat. castr-um, a castle] This was Bede's belief (' Hist. Eccl.' IL iii.) ; but if…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)