Roos is a surname with multiple origins. In Dutch, Low German and Swiss German “Roos” means “Rose” and the surname is often of toponymic origin (e.g. someone lived in a house named “the rose”) In 2007, 8600 people were named Roos and another 2880 “de Roos” in the Netherlands. In the UK, Roos may be of patronymic origin (“Andrews”) or indicating red hair (Old English “Rouse”). The name is also relatively common in Sweden (5,902 people in 2010) and Finland (1219 in 2012)
People with the name "Roos" or "de Roos" include:
Arts
Amy Mothersbaugh Roos (b. 1962), American artist and gallerist
Cajetan Roos (1690-1770), Italian landscape painter, son of Philipp Peter
Camilla Overbye Roos (b. 1969), Danish film actress
Don Roos (born 1959), American screenwriter and film director
Enn Roos (1908-1990), Estonian Soviet sculptor
Eva Roos (1872-1956), British children's books illustrator
Fred Roos (born 1934), American film producer
Graham Roos (b. 1966), British producer, writer and performer
Jaime Roos (b. 1953), Uruguayan musician
Jan Roos (c.1591-1638), Flemish painter who worked in Italy as Giovanni Rosa
Joanna Roos (1901-1989), American actress and playwright
Johann Heinrich Roos (1631-1685), German painter, father of Philipp Peter and Johann Melchior
Johann Melchior Roos (1663-1731), German painter, son of Johann Heinrich
Joseph Roos (1726-1805), Austrian painter, son of Cajetan
Kelly Roos, pseudonym of William Roos (1911-1987) and Audrey Kelley (1912-1982), American crime fiction writers
Kjell Roos (b. 1965), Swedish guitarist and singer
Martin Roos (b. 1972), Swedish guitarist and manager of Kent
Mary Roos (b. 1949), German singer and actor
Noella Roos (b. 1969), Dutch painter
Philipp Peter Roos (1655-1706), German painter, son of Johann Heinrich
S.H. de Roos (1877-1962), Dutch type and book cover designer and artist
Stefan Roos (b. 1970), Swedish actor and screen writer
Theodor Roos (1638-1698), German painter, brother of Johann Heinrich
Toon Roos (b. 1964), Dutch jazz saxophonist and composer
William Roos (1808-1878), Welsh painter and engraver
Sports
Aat de Roos (1919-1992), Dutch field hockey player
Ann-Sofi Roos (b. 1959), Swedish Olympic swimmer
Axel Roos (b. 1964), German football player and coach
Bertil Roos (1943-2016), Formula One driver from Sweden
David Roos (b. 1982), South African paralympian athlete
Elisandro Naressi Roos (b. 1976), a.k.a. Santiago, Brazilian footballer
JC Roos (b. 1990), South African rugby player
Jake Roos (b. 1980), South African golfer
Michael Roos (b. 1982), Estonian-born American football player
Michael Roos (b. 1991), Swiss ice hockey player
Nancy Roos (1905–1957), American chess champion
Paul Roos (1880–1948), South African rugby player, first Springbok captain
Paul Roos (b. 1963), Australian rules football player and coach
Suzy Powell-Roos (b. 1976), American discus thrower
Military
Axel Erik Roos (1684-1765), Swedish general
Carl Gustaf Roos (1655-1702), Swedish general
George Roos-Keppel (1866-1921), British military officer
Margareta Elisabeth Roos (1696–1772), Swedish-Estonian cross-dressing female in the Swedish army
Politics
John Roos (b. 1955), American diplomat, former Ambassador to Japan
Karl Roos (1878-1940), Alsace politician
Lawrence K. Roos (1918-2005), American (Missouri) banker and politician
Mike Roos (b. 1946), American (Californian) politician
Thea de Roos (born 1949), Dutch historian and politician
Tielman Roos (1879-1935), South African politician
Other
Barney Roos (1888-1960), American automotive engineer
Folkert de Roos (1920-2000), Dutch economist
J P Roos (b. 1945), Finnish sociologist
Jan Roos (b. 1977), Dutch columnist
Johan Roos (born 1961), Swedish organizational theorist
Jorgen Roos (1922-1998), Danish documentary filmmaker
Magnus Friedrich Roos (1727-1803), German theologian
Martin Roos (b. 1942), Romanian Roman Catholic bishop
Robert de Roos (c.1170-1227), ancestor of the Barons Ros of Helmsley
Rosalie Roos (1823-1898), Swedish feminist activist and writer
Victor Roos (1888-1964), American founder of several aircraft companies, including Cessna
