Rowberry

Rowberry is a locative surname from a place name deriving from the Middle English "rou, row(e)" Old English "ruh", meaning "rough or wild" and Middle English "bergh(e), berwe" Old English "beorg" meaning "hill". [Reaney, "Dictionary of British Surnames"]

It has several extant variations, the two most common variants found today are Rowberry itself together with Rubery, closely followed by Rowbury and Ruberry. Others still found today include Rewbury, Robery, Roebury, Rovery, Rowbery, Rowbory, Rowbree, Rowbrey, Rowburrey, Rubbery, Rubbra, Rubra, Rubrey and Rubury.

The name has its origins in a small place in the parish of Bodenham, Herefordshire nowadays represented by the farm named "Rowberry Court".

There is a Rowberry One-Name Study researching the name and its variants, further details can be found on the website at:

http://www.rowberry.org/index.html

People

*Anna Rowberry, the New Zealand netballer
*Dave Rowberry was a keyboard player with The Animals
*Linda Rowberry is the real name of Linda Strawberry the American singer

References