How common is the surname Rossiter?

3,316 people in the United States had the surname Rossiter in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 93,108 Americans. It ranked 9,770th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Rossiter?

In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Rossiter identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Rossiter?

Margaret W. Rossiter, American historian of science, followed by Leonard Rossiter.

Where is the surname Rossiter most common?

Wikidata records people named Rossiter in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Is the surname Rossiter getting more or less common?

Less common. 3,345 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,316 in 2010, down 0.9%.

The surname Rossiter

An English surname, carried by 3,316 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex R236

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Rossiter is more common than 94% of them.

Origin

English origin

Variant of Rochester from Middle English Rovescester.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 3,316 people named Rossiter in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 93,108 Americans. That is down 0.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 3,345.

#9,770

rank among US surnames

3,316

people in 2010

1.1

per 100,000 Americans

-0.9%

change since 2000 (was #8,986)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#9,761	Struck	3,320	92,996
#9,765	Channell	3,318	93,052
#9,767	Percival	3,317	93,080
#9,770	Parekh	3,316	93,108
#9,777	Petrick	3,315	93,136
#9,778	Shenk	3,314	93,164

Who is named Rossiter

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

94% of people named Rossiter identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 2.1% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 94%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.9%
Two or more races 2.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.2%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Rossiters

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Margaret W. Rossiter
American historian of science, 1944–2025
Leonard Rossiter
British actor (1926-1984)
Clinton Rossiter
American political scientist (1917–1970)

Notable Rossiters come mostly from the United States (2) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Rossiter

Rossiter has the Soundex code R236, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R236.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Rossiter come from?: Variant of Rochester from Middle English Rovescester.
How common is the surname Rossiter?: 3,316 people in the United States had the surname Rossiter in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 93,108 Americans. It ranked 9,770th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Rossiter?: In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Rossiter identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Rossiter?: Margaret W. Rossiter, American historian of science, followed by Leonard Rossiter.
Where is the surname Rossiter most common?: Wikidata records people named Rossiter in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Is the surname Rossiter getting more or less common?: Less common. 3,345 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,316 in 2010, down 0.9%.