English:

of Norman origin, from Old French and Middle English roche ‘rock, cliff, promontory’, sometimes a translation of Stone . The surname may have been topographic, denoting someone who lived on or by a prominent rock or rocky place, or a habitational name for someone who lived or came from a place so named, such as one of those called Roque or Roche(s) in Normandy and neighboring regions, or Roche in Cornwall, Roach Farm in Clyst Hydon (Devon), or Roch in Pembrokeshire (see Roch ).

in Lancashire perhaps referring to the River Roch, which runs through Rochdale; the river name is probably a back-formation from Recedham, an early name for Rochdale recorded in 1086, derived from Old English reced ‘building, house, hall’ + hām ‘village, homestead’. Alternatively, the Lancashire name could be a shortened form of the now rare or extinct surname Rochdale alias Rachedale, Rachdall, a habitational name from Rochdale (Lancashire). From the 18th century onward the name is difficult to distinguish from Roch , borne by Irish migrants to South Lancashire, especially Liverpool.