The Hockey Enforcer Named Rosehill

Where does the surname Rosehill come from, and how did it end up on the back of a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey? This episode traces the name from its origins as a bureaucratic invention in eighteenth-century Austria — where Jewish families were forced to adopt German-sounding surnames — through its anglicization in the British Isles, to the present day, where the most famous Rosehill made his living punching people in the face on ice skates. Along the way, we explore ornamental Jewish naming patterns, the Irish Jewish community, and the strange durability of family names across centuries and continents.