Find out how popular the last name Desrochers is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Desrochers.

Desrochers, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Desrochers surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Desrochers in America

Desrochers is the 12357th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Desrochers surname appeared 2,516 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Desrochers.

We can also compare 2010 data for Desrochers to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Desrochers

The surname Desrochers originates from France and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French words "des" meaning "of the" and "rocher" meaning "rock" or "rocky terrain." The name likely referred to someone who lived near or worked with rocks, such as a stonemason or someone living in a rocky area.

One of the earliest known records of the name can be found in the Cartulaire de Marmoutier, a medieval cartulary from the Marmoutier Abbey in Tours, France, dating back to the 11th century. This document mentions a person named "Robertus de Rocheriis" in 1095, which is a similar spelling to the modern Desrochers.

During the 13th century, the name appears in various forms in French records, such as "de Rochiers," "des Rochers," and "Desrochers." These variations likely stemmed from regional dialects and scribal differences in spelling.

One notable individual bearing the Desrochers name was Jean Desrochers, a French poet and writer who lived in the 16th century. He was born in Normandy around 1520 and is known for his collection of poems titled "Les Amours pastorales" (The Pastoral Loves), published in 1585.

In the 17th century, the name appears in several church records from the Normandy region of France. For example, the marriage of Pierre Desrochers and Marie Leclerc was recorded in the parish register of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives in 1662.

Another noteworthy figure was Jacques Desrochers, a French-Canadian explorer and fur trader who was born in Quebec City in 1675. He was one of the first European settlers to venture into the western regions of what is now Canada, establishing trading posts and making contact with various Indigenous tribes.

During the 18th century, the Desrochers name began to spread beyond France as French settlers emigrated to other parts of the world, particularly to North America. One such individual was Jean-Baptiste Desrochers, a French soldier and colonist who was born in 1720 and settled in what is now Louisiana, United States.

In the 19th century, the name appeared in various parts of Europe and North America. For instance, Louis-Philippe Desrochers was a prominent Quebec lawyer and politician who was born in 1836 and served as a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1872.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Desrochers

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Desrochers.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Desrochers was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Desrochers has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Desrochers was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Desrochers, please contact us.

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