Rocco, Rock

Gender: Male
Origin: Italian
Meaning: “rest”
(ROCK-ko); (ROCK)

The name is derived from the Germanic hroc meaning rest.

It was borne by a 14th-century saint whose cult is still very popular in Italy. He was known for his care and selflessness toward the plague victims. He would nurse them when nobody else would.

Legend has it that he himself contracted the deadly disease. He chose to go out into the woods and die, however, thanks to a loyal dog that visited him and nursed him back to health each day, he was able to live and go on to help more victims. As a result, he is the patron saint against dog bites and of dogs.

The name is also borne by actor Rock Hudson, Rocky Balboa, Rocco DiSpirito, and singer Madonna has used this name for her own child.

Currently, Rocco is the 341st most popular male name in Germany, (2011) and the 389th most popular male name in the United States, (2010).

Other forms include:

• Rok (Breton)
• Roc (Catalan)
• Roko (Croatian)
• Rochus (Dutch/German)
• Rock (English)
• Roche (French)
• Rocque (French)
• Rokus (Frisian)
• Rokkó (Hungarian)
• Rollux (Latin)
• Rokas (Lithuanian)
• Ròc (Occitanian)
• Ro (Poitvin)
• Roch (Polish)
• Rocque (Portuguese/Spanish)
• Rok (Slovene)