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The surname Roswell

An English surname, carried by 573 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈɹɒzˌwɛl/ 2 syllables Soundex R240

Roswell: #38,582 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Roswell #38,582, 573 people Roswell: #38,582 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#100Jimenez Roswell #38,582, 573 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Roswell is more common than 76.2% of them.

Origin

English origin

Metathesized from Middle English Roweshill, from a contraction of either the Old English personal name Hrōþwulf or its Norman cognate Rolf, Rouf, Rou (in the genitive case, adding -es) + Old English hyll (“hill”).

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 573 people named Roswell in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 538,823 Americans. That is down 5.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 607.

#38,582
rank among US surnames
573
people in 2010
0.2
per 100,000 Americans
-5.6%
change since 2000 (was #35,153)

Who is named Roswell

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

87% of people named Roswell identified as white (not Hispanic), 9.1% as Black (not Hispanic) and 1.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

  • White (not Hispanic) 87%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 9.1%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.9%
  • Two or more races 0.9%
The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Asian & Pacific Islander, Native American are not shown.

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Roswells

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • Maggie Roswell
    American actress, born 1952

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Roswell

Roswell has the Soundex code R240, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R240.

Other English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Roswell come from?
Metathesized from Middle English Roweshill, from a contraction of either the Old English personal name Hrōþwulf or its Norman cognate Rolf, Rouf, Rou (in the genitive case, adding -es) + Old English hyll (“hill”).
How common is the surname Roswell?
573 people in the United States had the surname Roswell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 538,823 Americans. It ranked 38,582nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Roswell?
In the 2010 Census, 87% of people named Roswell identified as white (not Hispanic), and 9.1% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Roswell?
Maggie Roswell, American actress.
Where is the surname Roswell most common?
Wikidata records people named Roswell in the United States.
How do you pronounce Roswell?
Roswell is /ˈɹɒzˌwɛl/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Roswell getting more or less common?
Less common. 607 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 573 in 2010, down 5.6%.
Is Roswell also a first name?
Yes. Roswell is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.