Origin of the Name Rooks
The ancient history of the name
Rooks was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives.
Over the centuries Surnames developed a wide number of variants. Different spellings of the same name can be traced back to an original root. Additionally when a bearer of a name emigrated it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books at their new location. Surnames were also often altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another.
Variants of the name Rooks
include Rook, Rookes, Root and Roots. This is a surname of nickname origin given to a person of a cheerful personality, taken from the old English word 'rote' meaning 'glad'. Rooks can also refer to the wild bird. This name is of English descent and is found in many ancient manuscripts in that country. Examples of such are a Simon Root of County Huntingdonshire and a Peter Roote of County Cambridgeshirewho who were recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls', England , in the year 1273. A Thomas Rootes was baptised at the Church of St. James, Clerkenwell, in the year 1745. Names were recorded in these ancient documents to make it easier for their overlords to collect taxes and to keep records of the population at any given time. When the overlords acquired lands by either force or gifts from their rulers, they created charters of ownership for themselves and their vassals. In Ireland the name Rookes and Rooks are occasional variants of Rourke.
The Rooks coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Rooks descendants.