The surname Ross has several variations, none of which is predominant. One derivation is from the Norman French name Roce, from Old German Rozzo, which originated from personal names containing the Old German word ‘hroth’-‘fame’. This word also gives us the first syllable of the name Robert (see Roberts/Robertson). So in this case Ross comes from a Norman first name of Germanic origin, and as such would have first arrived in England at the time of the Norman Conquest.

The other derivations are from a variety of place names all containing the Celtic element ‘ros’ or ‘rhos’-‘a heath, a promontory or an isthmus’. Thus Ross would mean ‘from Ross’. There are places called Ross in Herefordshire and Northumbria; there is a Scottish county of Ross. There are places called Roos in Yorkshire and Roose in Lancashire, both of which could give rise to the local surname Ross, as well. Other place names containing Ros-, Rose- and Rhos- occur in Wales, Scotland, Brittany, Ireland and Cornwall.

Another source of the name Ross is the small village of Rots in Calvados (Normandy). By this derivation the surname came across the Channel with the Normans in 1066.

The first mention of Ross as a surname appears in the Pipe Rolls of 1197 for Kent, where one Johannes filius Rosce is mentioned. The name in this instance almost certainly comes from the Norman word for fame.

A Ross became chief of the Cherokee Indians in 1828. John Ross, also known as Kooeshoowe (1790—1866), was the son of a Scottish father and an Indian mother. For years Ross bravely resisted the encroachment of the white man and his laws on Cherokee territory, but despite all his attempts it was largely a losing battle.

As every US schoolboy knows, Betsy Ross (1752—1836) stitched the first American flag, at the request of George Washington. Recent historical opinion, however, has begun to doubt the authenticity of Betsy’s patriotic feat.

The first man to discover the magnetic north pole (1831) was Sir James Clarke Ross (1800—62). This famous explorer also sailed the coasts of Antarctica, many parts of which are named after him.

The Nobel Prize-winning pathologist, Sir Ronald Ross (1857— 1932), was a professor of tropical medicine. Best known for his investigations into malaria, he made the discovery that the disease is transmitted by the anopheles mosquito.

Fur trader and pioneer Alexander Ross left Scotland to join John Jacob Astor’s 1810 expedition to the unexplored wilds of Oregon. He later helped found Astoria, Fort Walla Walla and the Red River Settlement, and left vivid accounts of his adventures in books such as Fur Hunters of the Far West.

One United Kingdom geographic feature, Rossall Point, and 9 towns and cities are related to this name, including 3 towns named Ross and Ross-on-Wye. South Africa has a Rossing while Canada has a Rossendale, Rossland, Rossport, Rossway and Rosswood. Australia and Senegal each have a Ross while Ireland has 8 Ross-related towns including Rosslare. In the United States there are 9 such towns. Geographic features named for Ross are all over the globe. There are Ross Islands in Antarctica and in Burma as well as a veritable flood of lakes and rivers and masses of mountains.

With about 23,000 namesakes Ross is the 15th most popular surname in Scotland. Thus one out of 230 Scots is so named. (The name is not common enough in England and Wales to be counted separately.) Around the world Ross’s are most common in Vancouver (one in 712 families), Toronto (one in 809) and Auckland (one in 843). The United States has more Ross’s than the entire population of Southampton-an estimated total of just over 242,000 makes this their 77th most popular surname.