Re: The surnames Roeg and Rossif.
in reply to a message by Jörmungandr
All I can tell you is that Roeg is Dutch.
Replies
Funny, I'm Dutch myself, but it didn't appear Dutch to me at all. The bearers of the surname seem to have been Jewish (who lived in Amsterdam in the early 19th century), so perhaps they are descendants of Jewish Germans who settled in Amsterdam.
You'll find the surname Roeg in the Dutch online telephone book at http://tinyurl.com/8sby9n. On the other hand, Roeg is not listed in Guggenheimer & Guggenheimer's or Kaganoff's dictionaries of Jewish family names.
I agree on Roeg being Dutch, not German. There is also a Dutch surname, Roege, probably the same, which, it is suggested, may be connected to a minor place name, 't Roege, near Groningen. It's further suggested that the place name could be related to the Dutch word, ruig, "rough".
As for Rossif, I wonder if that was Frédéric R's original surname. I note that he served in the French Foreign Legion prior to settling in France. There was a custom in that force of adopting "noms de guerre". I've found no other instance of Rossif as a surname, only the instance of Frédéric Rossif. I have to add that his forename, Frederick, doesn't sound Serbian/Montenegrin. I wonder if that was his original given name.
As for Rossif, I wonder if that was Frédéric R's original surname. I note that he served in the French Foreign Legion prior to settling in France. There was a custom in that force of adopting "noms de guerre". I've found no other instance of Rossif as a surname, only the instance of Frédéric Rossif. I have to add that his forename, Frederick, doesn't sound Serbian/Montenegrin. I wonder if that was his original given name.