Roscoe
A northern English surname usually taken from a place-name, especially in Lancashire or Yorkshire.
The #6,571 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 59,927 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most historical surname guides treat Roscoe as a locational name. One common explanation connects it with a Scandinavian place-name meaning something like "roe wood" or "wood where roe deer are found," from Old Norse elements for "roe deer" and "wood." Other writers, especially later Cornish-oriented sources, suggest it may be a form of Roscrowe or another local place-name, so the precise source may vary by family line.
History
The name is well attested in northern England by the late medieval period, with early spellings such as Roscoe, Roscow, and Ruscoe. Nineteenth-century surname dictionaries usually place it in Lancashire or Yorkshire, while one older source also suggested a Cornish connection through Roscrowe. The surname later spread more widely in Britain and overseas through migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century etymologist glossed Roscoe as essentially a "roe-wood" name, which makes it one of those surnames that sounds decorative but may once have described a very specific patch of woodland.
From the historical record
“bottom. ROSCOE 1 (Scand.) Bel. to Roscoe (Lanes), ROSCOW J i6th cent. Roscoe and Roscow = the Roe-Wood [O.N, rd (Dan.-Norw. raa — pron. raw), a roe -(- O.N. sk6g-r (Dan.-Norw. skov), a wood] ROSE (A.-Lat.) a pers. name, nickname and sign-name from the flower [O.E. rose \ Lat. rosd\”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)