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

Roat, 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 Roat surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Roat in America

Roat is the 32031st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Roat surname appeared 720 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Roat.

We can also compare 2010 data for Roat 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 Roat

The surname ROAT is believed to have originated in England during the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. It is thought to have derived from the Old English word 'rot', which referred to a muddy or boggy area of land. This suggests that the name may have initially been a topographic surname, given to someone who lived near or worked on such marshy ground.

One of the earliest known records of the name ROAT appears in the Yorkshire Poll Tax returns of 1379, where a Robert Rote is listed as a resident of the village of Cottingham. The variant spelling 'Rote' was quite common in medieval times, and it is likely that the modern spelling of 'ROAT' evolved from this earlier form.

In the 16th century, the ROAT surname can be found in the parish records of several villages in the East Riding of Yorkshire, such as Brantingham and South Dalton. This suggests that the name was primarily concentrated in this region during this period.

Notable individuals bearing the ROAT surname include John ROAT (c.1520-1584), a yeoman farmer from Brantingham who is mentioned in several land deeds and court records of the time. Another early bearer of the name was William ROAT (c.1570-1645), a merchant and landowner from the village of Etton, whose will is preserved in the East Riding Archives.

Moving into the 17th century, the ROAT name appears to have spread somewhat beyond its Yorkshire roots. For example, there are records of a Thomas ROAT (1621-1698) residing in the town of Grantham, Lincolnshire, where he worked as a tanner.

One of the most prominent figures in the history of the ROAT surname was Sir Robert ROAT (1682-1757), a wealthy merchant and landowner from Hull, Yorkshire. He served as Mayor of Hull in 1732 and was knighted by King George II in recognition of his civic and commercial achievements.

Another notable bearer of the ROAT name was Reverend John ROAT (1731-1805), an Anglican clergyman who served as the Rector of Barmston in the East Riding of Yorkshire for over 40 years.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Roat

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

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 Roat 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 Roat 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 Roat was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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