This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Roger.' In Domesday Rogerus, Norfolk Exceedingly common in the 13th century all over the country, giving us the nicks. Hodge and Dodge, and through them Hodgson, Hodgkins, Hodgkinson, &c, which see. Roger vied with Robert, John, and William for popularity for several centuries. In France, too, the name was a favourite, the French proverb for 'There's a good time coming' being 'Roger Bon Temps.' Hodge is now an English synonym for a peasant or agricultural labourer. Once a knightly name, Roger has fallen from his high estate, and is, as Joan, ever among the poor. Early registers teem with the name. I furnish one or two instances for form's sake:

Adam fil. Rogeri, Lincolnshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Robert fil. Rogeri, Norfolk, ibid.

Eufemia fil. Rogert. Suffolk, 30 Edward I: Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III.

Waltero Rogero, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Willelmus Rogerson, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Rogerus Smyth, 1379: ibid.

1788. Married — John Cooper and Elizabeth Rogerson: St. George, Hanover Square.

1808. — James Rodgers and Mary Spencer: ibid.

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Roger,' which see. The 'd' is, of course, intrusive.

From the Old English personal name Hroðgar, 'famous spear.' Rodger is the more common form with Scots. Roger was appointed abbot of Dryburgh in 1152 (Dryburgh). Roger, son of Oggou, attested a deed of middle of thirteenth century (Neubotle, p. 27). William Roger was tenant of the abbot of Coupar-Angus in 1468 (Cupar-Angus, I, p. 142), another William Roger had a safe conduct into England in 1470 (Bain, IV, 1388) and the lands of another William Roger in Glasgow are noted in 1551 (Protocols, I). John Roger, mason in Dundee in first miarter of sixteenth century, appears in record as Rogy, Rogie, Rogzy, and William Roger about same time appears as Rogze (Rent. Dunk.). Alexander Rodger (1784-1846), minor poet. Rogear 1606. compare Rogie.

'son of Ro(d)ger,' which see. Rodgers is the more common form with Scots. Rogers, in some parts of central Scotland, is pronounced Rodgie, and some Gaelic-speaking people in Perthshire pronounce it Rougie and sometimes Royger. John Rodgers, born in Maryland, 1771, son of a Scots colonel of militia, fired with his own hand the first shot in the war with Great Britain in 1812.

(Teutonic) Famous Spear [Old Teutonic Hruodgér (whence French Roger, Rogier), Hróðgár, Hróðgeirr, etc.—O.H.Ger. h)ruod- = Old Saxon *hróð- = Old English hróð- (hréð) = Old Norse hróð-r, fame, glory, victory + O.H.Ger. and Old Saxon gér = Old English gár = O.N-geirr, a spear] Hróðwulf and Hróðgár.—Wídsíð (The Traveller), 91.

Róðgér is the form in a 1oth-11th cent. ‘Index Bonorum’ of the abbey of Werden- an-der-Ruhr. The mod. (High) German form is Rüdiger.

Cp. Roger.

(Welsh, English) The son of Roger (fame, spear).

See Roger. The family of Rogers of Home, in Shropshire, are a cadet of the Norburys of Norbury in that county. In 7. Edward II., Roger de Norbury, son of Philip, and grandson of Roger de Norbury, had a grant of the estate of Home. His son took the name of Rogers, and his posterity under that appellation have ever since resided at Home. B.L.G.

Rogers. —Rare or absent in England north of a line drawn from the Humber to the Mersey. Scattered over the rest of England and also Wales, but generally infrequent in the eastern counties, being by far the most numerous in the western half of its area. It is most common in Herefordshire and Shropshire, and also in Cornwall. The counties next distinguished are Bucks and Sussex. Its only representatives in the north of England are the Rogersons of Lancashire. Rodger is the Scotch form, it has no definite distribution. In England we only find it occasionally, as in the case of Rodgers in Derbyshire. Lower says that there is an ancient family of Rogers in Shropshire dating back to the time of Edward II.