Given name & surname
Rochester
“from the stone fortress”
Rochester is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the stone fortress.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the stone fortress.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
How it developed
From Latin Dorubrevis, from Proto-Brythonic *Doruβrew, built from Proto-Brythonic *dor + *brew.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1914. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Rochester through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 463
- 463 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1944
- 22 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 1971. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 22 in 1944. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 245 as a first name in 2020; 3,896 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Rochester’s family of names
In English usage, Rochester as a surname shares an earlier linguistic root with Rossiter. In English usage, Rochester as a surname has a related form in Rossiter.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Similar names
If you love Rochester, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Rockland
“from the rocky land”
>99% boys
Sherwood
“from the bright forest”
>99% boys
Cleveland
“from the land of clifffs”
>99% boys
Radford
“from the red ford”
>99% boys
Woody
“a woman of the forest” · “a man of the forest”
>99% boys
Prentice
“a student; an apprentice”
95% boys · 5% girls
Jerald
“one who rules with the spear”
>99% boys
Garner
“one who gathers or keeps grain”
83% boys · 17% girls