Rooks
Usually a surname from the word for the bird, though it may also be a family form of Rook or Brook in some cases.
The #5,086 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 44,856 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is most likely connected with the word rooks, the crow-like bird, and may have begun as a nickname or a descriptive byname. Historical surname writers also treated it as a plural or family form related to the singular Rook, and some noted early spellings such as Adam le Roc. In a few instances it may be influenced by or confused with Brook/Brooks, since medieval spellings were often unstable.
History
English surname collections from the 19th century mention Rooks alongside related forms like Rook, Rooker, and Rooke. The name appears in medieval-style records and later parish usage, but the documentary trail is not enough to prove a single origin for every family bearing it. Modern Rooks families in the United States may descend from several unrelated English lines.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One source notes an early form, Adam le Roc, as an older-looking ancestor of the modern surname Rooks.
From the historical record
“presents the common tendency to tack on an j in monosyllabic local SB mames ; cf. Styles, Oakes, B rooks, S^es, Dykes, &c. Probably the patronymic », as in Williams, Jones, &c. ; v. Brook, (a) Bapt. ' the son of Lawrence,' from the nick. Law. ">rinstances,v.Lawson. Thefinal”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances