Ross
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Ross Surname Genealogy
Ross is a Scottish Highland clan name and also describes the territory in NW Scotland that was once called Ross-shire and is now Ross and Cromarty. The name is thought to have come either from the Gaelic word ros, meaning "headland" or "promontory," or (less likely) the Norse word hross or "horse."
The Ross name my have different roots elsewhere; from the Anglo-Norman de Ros family which settled in Ayrshire; from the Welsh rhos, meaning "moor" or "bog;" or from the Middle English rous or "red-haired." However, the numbers here are not seen to be that large. Ross in Ireland may denote the O'Donoghue Mor sept who built Ross castle in county Kerry in the late 1400's.
Emigration from Scotland. The Highlands still accounted for over half of the Rosses in Scotland in the 1891 census. But the 18th and 19th centuries had seen a Ross and Highland dispersal - south to lowlands Scotland and England, and more across the seas to America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (all countries which now have Ross clan chapters). The Ross name was also attached to the Cocos islands in the Indian Ocean. John Clunies Ross arrived there in 1825 and he and his descendants were running the islands and trading their copra for the next hundred years.
America. The Rosses of Philadephia played their part in the American Revolution, from George Ross, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, to Betsy Ross who sewed the first American flag.
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Hugh Ross, the first laird of Balnagowan, was in 1371 the first chief of the Ross clan to adopt the name Ross as his surname.
Betsy Ross, the young wife of John Ross, is best known for sewing the first American flag in 1776.
John Ross, also known as Guwisguwi, was chief of the Cherokee Indian nation from 1828 to 1860.
Sir John Ross and his nephew Sir James Ross were 19th century Arctic explorers, the latter leaving his name to Ross Sea in Antarctica.
Ronald Ross, the son of an Indian army officer, won the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1902 for his pioneering work on mosquitoes and malaria.
Harold Ross founded the New Yorker magazine in New York in 1925.
Diana Ross from the projects in Detroit emerged as the lead singer with the Supremes and then as a best-selling solo artist.
Select Rosses Today
Select Surname List
For other surnames check the companion selectsurname.com site where there are to be found the history and genealogy for more than 500 surnames.
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Ross is a Scottish Highland clan name and also describes the territory in NW Scotland that was once called Ross-shire and is now Ross and Cromarty. The name is thought to have come either from the Gaelic word ros, meaning "headland" or "promontory," or (less likely) the Norse word hross or "horse."
The Ross name my have different roots elsewhere; from the Anglo-Norman de Ros family which settled in Ayrshire; from the Welsh rhos, meaning "moor" or "bog;" or from the Middle English rous or "red-haired." However, the numbers here are not seen to be that large. Ross in Ireland may denote the O'Donoghue Mor sept who built Ross castle in county Kerry in the late 1400's.
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Ross Resources on
The
Internet
- Clan Ross. International clan Ross associations.
- Ross Family Association. Ross members association.
Emigration from Scotland. The Highlands still accounted for over half of the Rosses in Scotland in the 1891 census. But the 18th and 19th centuries had seen a Ross and Highland dispersal - south to lowlands Scotland and England, and more across the seas to America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (all countries which now have Ross clan chapters). The Ross name was also attached to the Cocos islands in the Indian Ocean. John Clunies Ross arrived there in 1825 and he and his descendants were running the islands and trading their copra for the next hundred years.
America. The Rosses of Philadephia played their part in the American Revolution, from George Ross, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, to Betsy Ross who sewed the first American flag.
Select Ross Names
Hugh Ross, the first laird of Balnagowan, was in 1371 the first chief of the Ross clan to adopt the name Ross as his surname.
Betsy Ross, the young wife of John Ross, is best known for sewing the first American flag in 1776.
John Ross, also known as Guwisguwi, was chief of the Cherokee Indian nation from 1828 to 1860.
Sir John Ross and his nephew Sir James Ross were 19th century Arctic explorers, the latter leaving his name to Ross Sea in Antarctica.
Ronald Ross, the son of an Indian army officer, won the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1902 for his pioneering work on mosquitoes and malaria.
Harold Ross founded the New Yorker magazine in New York in 1925.
Diana Ross from the projects in Detroit emerged as the lead singer with the Supremes and then as a best-selling solo artist.
Select Rosses Today
- 60,000 in the UK (most numerous in Aberdeen)
- 80,000 in America (most numerous in California)
- 55,000 elsewhere (most numerous in Canada)
Select Surname List
For other surnames check the companion selectsurname.com site where there are to be found the history and genealogy for more than 500 surnames.
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