Cosby
A surname taken from the place name Cosby in Leicestershire, England.
The #3,471 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 29,975 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Cosby is a habitational surname, originally given to someone who came from Cosby, a parish in Leicestershire. The place-name is generally understood as an English farm or settlement name, though the older sources quoted here do not break down its elements in detail. In surname use, it simply meant “of Cosby” or “from Cosby.”
History
The name appears in historical surname lists as a form derived from the Leicestershire place-name, with variant spellings such as CORSBY and CORSBIE. Like many English locational surnames, it would have spread beyond its original parish as people moved away from their home district. The surname is best known today in England and the United States, where it is carried by a modest but established number of families.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older surname references link Corsby and Corsbie directly back to Cosby in Leicestershire, showing how fluid spelling could be before modern standardization.
From the historical record
“least as 1242. C. S. Gilbert's Cornwall. COSBY. A parish and estate co. Lei- cester, said to have been the property of the family before the Conquest. COSCAR. See Mac Oscar. COSGROVE. COSGRAVE. A parish in Northamptonshire. COSHAM. Probably the same as Cor- sham.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom