Rogers

An Irish surname of Kerry. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 302,261 people, the 66th most common surname in the country.

Rogers is the anglicised form of three distinct Irish names. Some you can hear in the English name; others look and sound nothing like it, and were simply swapped for it.

Mac Ruaidhrí, son of Ruaidhrí (the Norse Hrothrekr, Domesday Book Roric, anglicised Rory, Roderick and Roger). This family stood in Co. Derry and Co. Tyrone.

Mag Ruaidhrí

Ó Ruaidhrí, descendant of Ruaidhrí (Norse Hrothrekr). This family stood in Co. Meath.

Where the name comes from

Mac Ruaidhrí is son of Ruaidhrí, the Norse Hrothrekr, which appears in Domesday Book as Roric and is anglicised Rory, Roderick and Roger. One family of the name were anciently chiefs of Tellach Ainbhith and Muinntear Birn in Co. Tyrone and erenaghs (the hereditary lay heads of families that held church lands) of Ballynascreen in Co. Derry; the other was a Scoto-Irish family of the same stock as the MacDonnells who came over as gallowglasses about the middle of the 14th century.

Ó Ruaidhrí, with the other prefix, was originally a Meath family, long dispersed and now very rare.

Moody long exposure of Coumeenoole Beach with Blasket Islands, Dingle, Kerry, fine art landscape photograph by Peter Cox
Evening, Coumeenoole Beach, Dingle, Kerry

Kerry, photographed

Photographs made in Kerry.

Kerry

Carrauntoohil in the MacGillycuddy's Reeks is the highest mountain in Ireland at 1,038 metres. The Dingle and Iveragh peninsulas run west from it, with the Skelligs eight miles off the Iveragh coast. I ran a gallery in Killarney for years.

Long exposure evening light on moss-covered rocks at Coumeenoole Beach, Dingle, Kerry, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxEvening II, Coumeenoole Beach, Dingle, Kerry Co. Kerry An Searrach sea stack at night near Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland, long exposure fine art photograph by Peter CoxAn Searrach, Dingle, Co. Kerry Co. Kerry Ballaghbeama Gap mountain pass in black and white, Co. Kerry, Ireland — fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxBallaghbeama Gap, Co. Kerry Co. Kerry Black and white panorama of Bridia Valley and mountains under cloud, Co. Kerry, Ireland — fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxBridia Valley, Co. Kerry Co. Kerry Sunset over Coomloughra valley and Lough Eighter in the Macgillycuddy's Reeks, Co. Kerry, Ireland, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxCoomloughra, the Reeks, Co. Kerry Co. Kerry Panoramic sunrise view from Conor Pass over mountains and lakes, Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxConor Pass, Dingle, Co. Kerry Co. Kerry Dramatic clouds towering over the MacGillycuddy's Reeks and Lough Leane in black and white, Killarney, KerryUncertain Skies over the Reeks, Killarney, Co. Kerry Co. Kerry Long exposure of Dunquin Harbour and sea stacks, Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDunquin, Dingle, Co. Kerry Co. Kerry Aerial view of the Long Range river winding between mountains towards the Upper Lake in Killarney, County KerryThe Long Range, Killarney, Co. Kerry Co. Kerry Moonlit winter night in the Gap of Dunloe, Kerry with snow-covered mountains and a still lake reflecting the skyThe Gap of Dunloe, Co. Kerry Co. Kerry Great Blasket Island and an Tiaracht stretching across the Atlantic from the Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry — fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxGreat Blasket Island & an Tiaracht, Co. Kerry Co. Kerry

All Kerry prints

Notable bearers

Ginger Rogers (1911-1995), actor, writer, and singer.

Carl Rogers (1902-1987), film producer, university teacher, and non-fiction writer.

Fred Rogers (1928-2003), television actor, singer, and musician.

Kenny Rogers (1938-2020), actor, singer, and singer-songwriter.

Will Rogers (1879-1935), actor, writer, and politician.

About this page

The counties on this page are where the name was thickest on the ground in Ireland a century and a half ago, not a claim about any one family. Names moved around inside the country as much as they left it. The photographs are mine, made in the counties named.

More Irish surnames: Smith · Brown · Miller · Wilson · Anderson · Thomas · Taylor · Moore · Jackson · Martin · Lee · Thompson

How common the name was

In 1890, 170 births were registered under Rogers in Ireland, most of them in Kerry.

Ulster 98
Leinster 40
Connacht 20
Munster 12
Ireland 170