Rodgers

This famous Scottish name is of Old Germanic origin, from the Old German personal name "Roger, Rodger", composed of the elements "hrod", renown, fame, with "geri, gari", spear. The personal name was introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066 in the forms "Roger" and "Rogier", it is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 in the Latin forms "Rogerius" and "Rogerus". A number of surnames were developed from the personal name, including the "pet" forms Hodge and Dodge, and the patronymics Rogers(on) and Rodgers(on), the latter form being the one found most often in Scotland. Among the early recordings of the name in Scotland is the marriage of David Rodgers and Janet Symsoun in August 1616, in Edinburgh. An interesting namebearer was one John Rodgers, born in Maryland in 1771, the son of a Scottish colonel of Militia, who fired the first shot in the war with Great Britain in 1812. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry Rogeres, which was dated 1327, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire", during the reign of King Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.