Family name origins & meanings
- English : nickname from the bird (Old English hrōc), most likely given to a person with very dark hair or a dark complexion or to someone with a raucous voice.
- English : some early examples, such as Robert of ye Rook (London 1318) and Henry del Rook (Staffordshire 1332), point clearly to a local name of some kind. The first of these could be from a house sign, the second may be a variant of Rock 1.
- German : from a short form of a Germanic personal name formed with hrok, of uncertain origin; perhaps a cognate of 1 or from Middle High German rōhen ‘to cry or yell (in battle)’ or Old High German ruoh ‘intent’.
- Perhaps an altered spelling of German Ruck.