Type Surname (from location)
Usage English
Meaning & History
English habitational name from any of various places, such as Rowlston in Lincolnshire, Rolleston in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Staffordshire, or Rowlstone in Herefordshire, near the Welsh border. Most of these are named from the genitive case of the Old Norse personal name Hrólfr (see Rolf) or of the Old English cognate name Hroðwulf + Old English tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’. In the case of the Nottinghamshire place, however, the first element is from the genitive case of the Old Norse personal name Hróaldr (see Rowett).