Cummins
A surname most often linked to the old Gaelic name Comyn, though some lines were later reinterpreted or linked to Norman origins.
The #1,731 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 14,912 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Cummins is generally treated as a variant of Comyn or Cumming, ultimately from an old Gaelic personal name, usually written Cuimín or a related form. In Irish and Scottish usage, the name was later adapted into several spellings, including Cummins, Cummin, Cummings, and MacCumin forms. Some 19th-century writers also connected the family with the Norman place-name de Comines in France, but that derivation was already viewed as uncertain by other scholars.
History
The name is especially associated with Scotland and Ireland, where powerful medieval families carried Comyn/Comyns-type forms and produced many later variants. In Ireland, Cummins is found among anglicized Gaelic surnames and appears in multiple genealogical spellings recorded by Irish onomastic writers. The spelling Cummins became established as a common English-language form, especially in Britain and later in North America.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A single surname cluster generated a surprisingly large family of spellings, and 19th-century scholars did not fully agree whether the name was chiefly Gaelic or partly Norman in origin.
From the historical record
“Comin8» Cumin, Cumings, Cummin, Cumming, Cunx- mings, Cummins^— f Local, ' de Comines * (t)b This is the custo- mary Norman derivation. I find no positive evidence in favour of the view. William Cumine, Lord Chan- cellor of Scotland, temp. David I,”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)