Cooks
An English surname most often meaning “the cook’s son” or a family descended from a cook.
The #5,640 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 50,145 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Cooks is usually treated as a patronymic or family-name form of Cook, from Old English *coc* / *cocca* and ultimately Latin *cocus*, meaning a cook. The final -s can mark “son of” or possession, so the name was understood as “the cook’s (family)” or “the son of the cook.” Some historical writers also note that early spellings and related forms blur together with Cook and Cookson.
History
Medieval records show Cook and related spellings very early and very widely in England, which fits an occupational surname that soon became hereditary. Bardsley specifically treats Cooks as a Yorkshire variant of Cookson, and also notes forms like Cuke and Coke in early documents. The name later spread with English migration, and today it remains a fairly uncommon but clearly established surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One Bardsley note says the Cooks’ Company in the York Pageant of 1415 appears as “Cukes,” showing how variable medieval spelling could be.
From the historical record
“'Vintners, Brewen, Hostlers, and Inkeapen,' An ordinance passed 9 Ric II styles them Cooks and Paatetecs (v. my English Surnames, 3rd edit. p. 365). Coke (q.v.) is ao early form. Every early register teems writh the name. John Cocu CO, Norf., 1173. A.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances