Rowbotham is a surname. Etymologically it is roe–bottom, meaning a depression in the ground (Old English bothm) inhabited by deer (roe). The name originates from such a geographic feature near Ashton-under-Lyne, England. Notable people with the surname include:
David Rowbotham (born 1924), Australian poet and journalist
Jason Rowbotham (born 1969), Welsh footballer
Joseph Rowbotham (1831–1899), English cricketer
Michael Rowbotham, political and economic writer and commentator
Mike Rowbotham (born 1965), South African footballer
Samuel Rowbotham (1816–1884), English inventor and writer, advocate for a flat earth
Sheila Rowbotham (born 1943), British socialist feminist theorist
Thomas Charles Leeson Rowbotham (1823–1875), British painter
Thomas Leeson Scrase Rowbotham (1782–1853), British painter
W. A. Rowbotham (Roy) British engineer with Rolls-Royce, designer of the Rolls-Royce Meteor tank engine
