The Roark surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 14,509 people carried this name — #2,489 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 20,300 people counted. That is up 3% from 14,073 in 2000.

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In Argentina’s national register

At least 29 people named Roark live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Buenos Aires Province 29

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In print

Roark in American newspapers,
1907–1927.

Newspaper page from The Washington Daily News carrying the name Roark
The Washington Daily News 1927-08-17
Newspaper page from The Crook County Monitor carrying the name Roark
The Crook County Monitor 1907-09-13
Newspaper page from The Barre Daily Times carrying the name Roark
The Barre Daily Times 1920-08-27

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 17,860 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Roark in Australian newspapers,
1860s–1950s.

372 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Roark. The most, 87, date from the 1950s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Victoria, at 3.6 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Victoria 222
New South Wales 48
Tasmania 27
South Australia 19
Queensland 18
Western Australia 14
ACT (Canberra) 3
Northern Territory 1

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Roark.

Who carried it

People named Roark,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Mary Creegan Roark
    Mary Creegan Roark 1861–1922
  • Charles W. Roark
    Charles W. Roark 1887–1929 · politician
  • George Roark
    George Roark 1898–1993 · basketball coach
  • Ruric Creegan Roark 1887–1962 · entomologist
  • Raymond J. Roark 1890–1966 · mechanical engineer
  • Eugene Washburn Roark 1894–1918 · botanist

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Roark,
in the records of 2 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States740 records

740 records of the Roark name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 488
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 157
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 26
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 25
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 18
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 13
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 5
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 5
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 3
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Harold E. Roark

    Born 1931; from Larue County, Kentucky. U.S. Army, light weapons infantryman; killed in action 1951 in North Korea. Buried at Buffalo Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Chester Roark

    Born 1924 in Kansas. Enlisted 1943 at Fort Leavenworth; farm hand from Cherokee County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1999, buried at Fort Scott National Cemetery, Kansas.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Anne Roark

    Arrived at New York in 1858 aboard the Princeton from Liverpool, aged 24; servant. From Ireland.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 740 records for Roark in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia22 records

22 records of the Roark name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 14
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 4
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 2
  • Tasmanian Names Index 2
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Hugh Roark

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Kinnear, sailing from Dublin in 1842. Native of Leitrim.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Robert Roark

    Arrived in Victoria in 1887 aboard the Potosi, aged 24; Scottish.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Allen John Roark

    Gentleman of Armadale, Victoria; died 1983.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 22 records for Roark in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Roark.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Roark is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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