The Roe surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 25,286 people carried this name — #1,406 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 11,700 people counted. That is up 2% from 24,699 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Roe surname
From a Middle English nickname meaning a roe.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Roe» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890
Ireland registered 21 births for the Roe name in 1890.
Most were registered in Leinster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 900 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born, 1890
Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 73 people named Roe.
17 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 9 départements, most often Finistère.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In the Nordic population registers
794 people named Roe is counted in Norway.
Norway publishes only surnames with 200 or more bearers.
Counted, by country
Statistics Norway (SSB, ssb.no), table 12891, 2025 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Roe in American newspapers,
1899.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,541,299 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Roe,
with a public archive behind them.
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William Thomas Roe d. 1834 · lawyer
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William Thomas Roe d. 1834 · lawyer
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Charles Roe d. 1908 · barrister
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Mary Edith Roe d. 1972
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Catherine Anna Maria Mathew d. 1771
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Thomas Chambers Windsor Roe d. 1988
Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Roe.
- Rodon 156 · U.S. census
- Rodrigo 1,401 · U.S. census
- Rodrigue 4,759 · U.S. census
- Rodrigues 31,280 · U.S. census
- Rodriguez 1,094,924 · U.S. census
- Rodrique 115 · U.S. census
- Roeder 6,742 · U.S. census
- Roederer 375 · U.S. census
- Roehm 1,350 · U.S. census
- Roehr 759 · U.S. census
- Roehrig 1,217 · U.S. census
- Roeland 121 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Roe 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.