Roll
Usually a shortened or altered form of medieval names like Rollo, Roland, or Ralph rather than the everyday word “roll.”
The #6,732 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 61,614 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Historical surname writers generally connect Roll with medieval personal names, especially Rollo and Roland, and sometimes with Ralph/Ralf or Rolf. In that view, Roll is a shortened, clipped, or variant surname form built from a familiar given name rather than from the English noun “roll.” The exact pathway can differ by family, so the name is best treated as a surname with several closely related name-roots.
History
19th-century surname dictionaries note Roll alongside forms such as Rolle, Rolles, Rolland, and Rowland, reflecting the way one medieval personal name could generate many spellings. The surname appears in English records through the Middle Ages and later survives in several regional lineages. Some bearers may also descend from local or spelling variants, so not every Roll family necessarily shares the same origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One major surname source linked Roll to the same wider name family as Roland and Rowland, showing how medieval names often splintered into many spellings.
From the historical record
“2 for l^olandson, q.v. ROLL \ forms of the O.Fr. Roul (mod. Raoul, ROLLE I which, however, really represents Ralph or Ralf), lor Rolf, Rodolf, q.v. Rolle is not nearly so common a sur- name in France as the deriv. Rollet. Cp. Rowel I (A.-Fr.-Teut.) ROLLAND, v. Roland. ROLLANDSON, Rolland's orRoLAND's Son:”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)