Cobbs
Cobbs is most likely a surname built from the old nickname base cob, probably referring to a stout, compact man or a prominent person.
The #5,306 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 47,029 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Cobbs is generally treated as a form built on the Middle English word cob, which was used as a nickname base. In older English naming, cob could suggest something short, sturdy, or substantial, and it also appears in names of the Cobbe/Cobb type. The final -s may be a later surname ending or a patronymic-style addition, but for Cobbs the safest reading is that it belongs to the broader Cobb family of names.
History
Bardsley groups Cobbs with other surnames derived from cob- forms such as Cobb, Cobham, and Cobden, showing that the name was already understood in the 19th century as part of an older English naming cluster. The surname is found in English records in several similar spellings, and Cobbs likely developed as a regional or pluralized variant of Cobb rather than as a separate independent root. In modern usage it is most common in English-speaking countries, especially the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley notes that cob- surnames were grouped with words used for a prominent or substantial man, which hints that the name may originally have carried a “big fellow” kind of sense.
From the historical record
“our ' Copes ' and ' Copps,' ' Copleys ' and ' Copelands,' and ' Copestakes.' From ' cob,' which is but another form of the same word, we get our ' Cobbs,' ' Cob- hams,' ' Cobwells,' ' Cobdens,' and ' Cobleys.' Thus, to consult the Parliamentary Writs alone, we find such entries as ' Robert de Cobbe,' ' Reginald de…”
— English Surnames: their sources and significations