French form of Rocco, from Germanic 'hrok' meaning rest; popularized by Saint Roch, patron of plague victims.
Roch is the French form of Rocco, an Italian name of Germanic origin — rooted in the Old High German "hroc" meaning "rest" or possibly related to a battle-cry root, though scholars continue to debate the precise etymology. The name's greatest carrier is Saint Roch (San Rocco in Italian), a fourteenth-century French pilgrim from Montpellier who became one of the most venerated saints in Europe after his miraculous work among plague victims in northern Italy.
When he himself fell ill and retreated to the forest, legend holds that a dog brought him bread each day until he recovered — making him the patron saint of dogs, the sick, pilgrims, and falsely accused prisoners. The cult of Saint Roch exploded across Catholic Europe following the Black Death, and his image — typically showing him lifting his robe to display a plague bubo on his thigh, with a faithful dog at his side — became one of the most recognizable in medieval and Renaissance iconography. Venice houses some of his relics in the magnificent Scuola Grande di San Rocco, decorated by Tintoretto's most ambitious canvases.
In France, Roch remains a saint's name with quiet dignity, used especially in Catholic families observing feast-day naming traditions (August 16). It is short, strong, and unmistakably European in character — related to but distinct from the English Rock or the more commonly encountered Rocco, making it an elegant choice for parents seeking hagiographic depth in an uncluttered two-letter package.