Roebuck
A surname from the deer name roe buck, originally used as a nickname or sign-name.
The #6,638 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 60,538 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally explained as a compound of roe, the small deer, and buck, meaning a male deer. Harrison explicitly treats it as a nickname or sign-name from the animal, and Lower likewise derives it from the animal name. The first element goes back to Old English and related Celtic forms for the roe deer, while the second element is Old English bucc and Old Norse bukk-r, both meaning a buck or male deer.
History
In English surname tradition, animal names were often used as nicknames for a person thought to resemble the animal in appearance, behavior, or some other trait. Bardsley groups Roebuck with other surnames that likely began as descriptive labels or sign names. The surname has persisted in England and Scotland and is now relatively uncommon in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older surname books, Roebuck is often discussed alongside inn- or sign-based surnames, since animal names could easily become identifying labels in medieval towns.
From the historical record
“[Ir. and Gael, ruadh (dh mute), red] ROEBUCK (Eng. and Scand.) a nickname and sign-name from the animal [v. under Roe, and -I- O.E. bucc = O.N. bukk-r] ROFE 1 ROFF [ assim. forms of Rolf(e, q.v. roffeJ ROFFEY \ I = Roff, Roif(e (q.v.) -f- the dim. ROFFY /suff. -«)y. 2 |Dweller at (a) the Rough Island or”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)