Cochran
An Anglo-Scottish surname that most likely began as a nickname for a turned-up or prominent nose, though some early writers also linked it to a place-name.
The #567 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 5,202 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is often explained from a Gaelic source meaning something like a point, promontory, or projecting feature, which was then applied by analogy to a person's nose. That makes it a nickname surname in the same broad family as other descriptive names based on facial features. Some 19th-century writers instead treated it as local or place-based, but the nickname explanation is the more specific one given in the old dictionaries cited here.
History
The name is strongly associated with Scotland, especially the Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire area, and later became familiar through the important Cochran/Cochrane family of Dundonald. In historical sources, Cochran is often treated alongside Cochrane as a close spelling or form. The surname spread well beyond Scotland through migration to England, North America, and other English-speaking regions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A well-known historical bearer was William Cochran, the 18th-century Scottish painter from Strathaven.
From the historical record
“County Dorset, England. COCHRAN. Local Cocrinn, Gaelic, a point or promontory in open sight ; from Coc, manifest, plain, and rinn} a cape or promontory. COOKBURN. Local The brook by the hillock ; from code, a hillock, and burn, a brook. OF FAMILY NAMES. 99 COE. The primitive word Co is an elevation, exalted. Koh…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names