Coney
A surname usually derived from a nickname for a rabbit, though some bearers may descend from a Norman place-name.
The #6,711 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 61,356 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In English records, Coney is commonly explained as a nickname from Middle English cony or coney, meaning “rabbit” or “young rabbit.” That word itself comes through Old French conil/conis and ultimately from Latin cuniculus, so the surname could have begun as a humorous or identifying nickname for someone thought to resemble a rabbit. Some historical notices also point to a possible Norman locational source, from a place such as Coni or Coigny in Normandy, so not every family with the name must share the same origin.
History
The name appears in medieval and later English records, and 19th-century surname writers often grouped it with other animal-based nicknames. It is also found in Norman contexts, which suggests that in some lines it may have been imported as a locational surname rather than coined in England. Modern bearers are especially associated with England and English-speaking countries, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname collectors explicitly glossed Coney as “the coney,” i.e. rabbit, showing how transparently this animal nickname was understood in historical English.
From the historical record
“LondOfl,7;Ne«rVork,i. Consy. — Nick, 'the coney,' i,t rabbit ; cC Hare. 'Cony, cumm/iu' (Prompt Parv.J. Griffin Cony, co. Heivfoid, Hen. III- Edw. I. K.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instancesNotable people named Coney
- Amy Coney Barrett (b. 1972)
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