Each family connects hundreds of people to form an intricate pattern of ancestors and descendants. Our origins span the world, our families come from all religions and ways of life. The common thread of Heraldry links many cultures and establishes the foundations of a Surname before words were a common understanding and images demonstrated a basic understanding to the populace.
This page represents the following Surnames: Cox. Cock. Cocke.
Heraldry for every family is represented on each page as it has become available through out our research, as a tribute to the historical and evolutionary process that each family has survived. Name definitions are provided for each family as we find a connection to them, through intermarriage or discovery. Scottish, English and Irish families are represented with tartans, badges and other memorabilia as it becomes available to us. We’ve worked very hard at finding the most accurate and appropriate connections for each surname, if you see an error or have more information to add, please contact us via e-mail at CSGS@SnowStones.com.
English or Welsh: from Cocke in any the senses described. The suffix -s denoting ‘son of’ or ‘servant of’.
One possibility of the origin is that it is a version of the Old English cocc which means “the little”, and was sometimes put after the name of a leader or chieftain as a term of endearment.
The name could be derived from the Old English cock, which means a “heap” or “mound”, and was a topographic name for a man living near any heap, hill or other bundle.
Another possibility is that it comes from the Welsh coch, meaning “red”. In this opinion, the word could have either been applied to a man with red hair, calling him in essence “the Red”, or else served as a topographic name for someone living near the ruddy-hued hills found in Wales, implying that the man is “from the red hills”.
Irish (Ulster): mistranslation of Mac Con Coille (‘son of Cú Choille’, a personal name meaning ‘hound of the wood’), as if formed with coileach ‘cock’, ‘rooster’.
Cornish: Cock can also derive from ‘cok’, “fishing boat”, the Cornish surname “Cocking” being the diminutive form ‘cokyn’, “small fishing boat”.
Family Motto: ‘Proemium Virtutis Honos’ (Honour Before Virtue) and ‘Fide et Fortitudine’ (With Faith and Fortitude).
Family Crest:
Clan Badge:
The Cox Family Tartan:
A commemorative Tartan created for the British and Hollywood actor
Brian Denis Cox CBE’s sixtieth birthday.
The Ancient Campbell Tartan, worn by the Scottish Cox families.
Surname References from:
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
Encyclopedia of Surnames, John Ayto, A & C Black Publishers Ltd, ISBN 978 0 7136 8144 4
(Unless otherwise stated)
Wikipedia: Cox Surname