This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Rowland,' from the nick. Rowe. A once familiar personal name on the Scottish border and in North England generally.

Rowe Elwald, 1515: The History of Liddesdale and the Debatable Land.

Rowe Crosier, 1586: Raine's History and Antiquities of North Durham.

(2) Local, 'of the row,' i.e. the row of cottages. Middle English rowr, Anglo-Saxon raw and rawe; North English raw. v. Roe (3) and Raw.

William del Rawe, 1350: History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham.

The following names occur in the list of the mayors of Macclesfield: Richard del Rowe, 1368. Stephen del Rowe, 1426. Roger del Rowe, 1441. Hugh Rowe, 1477. Roger Rowe, 1581, Sc., &c, &c. Charles Roe, 1747.

Evidently all were of the same family (v. East Cheshire, ii. 464-8).

(English) Dweller at the Row (of dwellings, hedge-row, etc.) [Middle English rowe, Old English rǽw, a row, hedge-row] Richard del Rowe.—Chesh. Chmbrlns.’ Accts., A.D. 1350-1.

Henry del Rowe.—Lanc. Fines, A.D. 1434.

(Anglo-French-Teut.) 1 contraction of Rowland, Roland, q.v.

(occasionally) 2 for the O.French Rou (seen in Wace’s ‘Roman de Rou’), a contraction of Rolf, Rodolf, q.v.

(Celtic) Red, Red - Haired [Irish and Gaelic ruadh (dh mute), red] There has naturally been some late confusion with Roe, q.v.

V. Row.

From “Street” in Old French (Rue).

(English) Dweller at the rough or uncultivated land; one who lived at the hedgerow.

1. A street, or rather a series of detached houses, standing on one side only of the highway. 2. There is a parish in Dumbartonshire so called. 3. Gaelic, rhu, Scottish, row, signifies a low, small, narrow peninsula. Gaz. Scotl.

Local. A river that overflows its banks. Rowe, Rue, French, a street; Roe, Gaelic, red—haired.

From the Irish ruadh, red. A location name in Dumbarton, Somerset, Yorkshire See Raw, Roe.

Rowe: is De Rohaut. The four sons of Rohaut, a Breton noble living in 1000, accompanied the Conqueror to England, and one of these, Ruald FitzRohaut, held three lordships in capite in Devon in 1086. His son Ruald, or Rohaut, was father of Alan FitzRohaut, who married Lady Alicia de Dodbrooke, and acquired additional estates by her in Devon. The Rowes or Rohauts have remained to this day in Devon. One branch at Staverton is extinct, but the other at Lamerton, near Tavistock, flourishes.

Though Rowe is a numerous Devonshire name, it is far more numerous in Cornwall. It should, however, be noted that the Rowes of Lamerton are reputed to be one of the most ancient stocks of Rowe in the west of England (W. D.).