Rohrer
A German surname usually meaning someone from a place called Rohr, or a person living by reeds or a reed bed.
The #4,580 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 39,838 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Rohrer is generally a habitational surname built from German Rohr, meaning “reed,” and by extension the name of various places called Rohr. The ending -er commonly means “person from” or “person of,” so the surname most likely meant “someone from Rohr” or “someone living near reeds/reed beds.” In older surname scholarship, it is also treated as a local name attached to several villages in German-speaking Switzerland and nearby regions.
History
The name is well attested in German-speaking areas, especially Switzerland and southern Germany, where habitational surnames of this type became hereditary over time. In older reference works it is grouped with surnames derived from nearby villages and landscape features rather than from occupations. The surname later spread through migration to North America and elsewhere.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same German word Rohr that lies behind the surname can also name places, so Rohrer and similar surnames often point back to a specific village rather than just a landscape feature.
From the historical record
“(from river Reuss, Switzerland), Rodenbach, Rothenhauser, Rohrbach (many villages in the Palatinate and Switzerland), Rohrer (Rohr, a number of villages in Switzerland), Rothacker, Rothweiler, Schantz (one who lived near entrenchments?), Schenckweiler, Scholl, Schollenberger (Scholl =place in Zurich, mentioned 1258…”
— Studies in Pennsylvania German Family NamesNotable people named Rohrer
- Heinrich Rohrer (1933–2013)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.