Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Rosse 1086 DB 1244 Cl 1650 ParlSurv

• Rosse in Holdernesse 1474 Pat

• Ross c.1265 KF 1301 Ch 1486 Test

• Ros 1190,1191 P 1232 Ebor 1242 FF 1245 Ebor 1279–81 QW 1285 YI 1292,1304 Ebor 1357 Ipm 1542 NCWills

• Ros in Holdernesse 1415 YI

• Russe 1202 FF 1208 Ass

• Rose 1285 KI 1418 YI 1531 Test

• Roos 1414 Test 1465 Pat

• Roos in Holdernes 1607 FF

Etymology

Roos is usually thought to be a Celtic name from British *rostā , which gave OWelsh  ros , Welsh  rhos 'moor, heath' (cf. Irish ros 'promontory, wood'), v. Roose (PN La 202), Ross (PN NbDu 169, PN He 163). This word survives in modern dialects not only on the Welsh  border but also in the east of England as ross 'marsh' and in rossland 'moorland' (EDD s.vv.).It is possible that the word ros was taken over from British into the common word-stock of the Anglo-Saxons, much in the same way as were foss (cf. Foss Beck supra 3), cumb , carr , and cors (v. PN Wo 197, PN Sx 371, 386). The chief difficulty with Roos is the length of the vowel in ME. Ekwall (RN lxxi, 317) finds some evidence for British lengthening of vowels before s in Ouse (supra 9), Tees, etc. An OE  form Rōs might well have resulted in early occasional spellings with u such as we find here (v. Introduction). The later dialectal forms which have a long vowel go back to a ME  Rŏse or Rŭse with an older short vowel lengthened in an open syllable and may in part have been affected by the common word rose (cf. Roseden, PN NbDu 168).