Root
An English surname that likely began as a nickname or local name, ultimately tied to the idea of a plant root or an older word for a root-like shape.
The #1,770 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,221 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained from the English word root, which goes back to Old English rōt and earlier Germanic forms referring to the underground part of a plant. In surname use, it may have started as a nickname for someone associated with roots, herbs, or the countryside, though some bearers could also descend from a local or topographic name built on the same word. The name is simple and old, and its exact first sense is not always recoverable from later records.
History
Root appears in England as a longstanding surname, and later spread to North America with English migration. Because it is a short, common-looking word, it may have arisen independently in more than one place. Modern bearers in the United States likely reflect several English lines rather than a single family origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because the surname is so short and ordinary-looking, it is easy to overlook that it can conceal multiple unrelated family lines.
From the historical record
“Mr. Makepeace was bred an attorney. Mr. Gardener can't tell a flower from a root, Mr. Wilde with timidity draws back, Mr. Ryder performs all his journeys on foot, Mr. Foote all his journeys on horseback.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)