This very interesting and ancient surname can be either English or Welsh. It is a patronymic of Rowland, and has two possible origins. The first is from the Norman-French personal name "Rollant". Composed of the pre 7th century Germanic elements "hrod", meaning renown and "land", describing land or territory. Introduced into the British Isles after the Conquest of 1066, it was highly popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages mainly as a result of the fame of one of Emperor Charlemagne's knight commanders who bore the name.
The second source is locational from places called Rowland in the counties of Derbyshire and Sussex. In these cases the derivation is from the Old Norse word "ra", meaning the deer or roebuck, and "lundr", a wood. Locational surnames were usually developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. The modern surname can be found as Rowland, Rolland, Roland, Rolance, Rowlands and Rollons. Recordings taken from early church registers in the diocese of Greater London include the marriage of Edward Rowlands and Catherine Wood, on March 9th 1799, at the famous church of St. Mary-le-Bone, and the marriage of Christopher Rowlands and Ann Beater on March 20th 1809, at St. Anne's Soho, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Simon Rolland. This was dated 1218, when he was a witness at the Assize Court of Lincolnshire, during the reign of King Henry 111rd of England, 1216 - 1272. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
Discovering the historical roots of rowlands is deeply interesting, as it takes us back to the ancestors and relatives who established this lineage. The origin, the coat of arms or the different heraldic shields, and the bibliography in which the surname rowlands is mentioned are part of this exciting investigation.
Although surnames have a specific origin at a certain time and region of the planet, many of them have spread far and wide across the world for various reasons, as is the case with the surname rowlands. The list of countries with a higher presence of people with the surname rowlands provides us with a perspective on the history of the surname, beyond its origins, focusing on its migrations.
The historical chronicle of rowlands is based on a striking series of events that were led by those who have carried this surname throughout history. For those like you, who are interested in the history hidden behind the surname rowlands, it is essential to find all kinds of information, both direct and tangential, that helps to construct a solid narrative of how the birth and expansion of rowlands developed.
We suggest that if you want to learn more about the surname rowlands, try to locate it through the bibliographic sources we suggest. We keep our website updated through our own research and also thanks to contributions from people like you, after verification; so if you have information about rowlands and send it to us, we will update it on this website.
It's more than likely that there have been some distinguished rowlandss throughout human history. Sadly, not all the contributions of those who bore the surname rowlands were recorded by the chroniclers of the time. It is our desire to highlight in this section those individuals with the surname rowlands who, for various reasons, have left their mark on the course of history.
Thanks to a significant bibliographic review, we have so far compiled information on the heraldry, history, and genealogy of rowlands. The origin, history, coat of arms or different coats of arms, and the heraldry of rowlands are recorded in a wide variety of sources and documents that are essential to know for better compilation.
These sources are essential for initiating the understanding of rowlands, and at the same time, of surnames in general.