CASHMAN
Cashman is a surname of predominantly Irish origin, with its earliest documented references found within the counties of Cork, Kerry and Waterford in the southern part of Ireland. The name is derived from several Gaelic forms that have been anglicised over the centuries.
The original Gaelic forms comprise Ó Caisín, Ó Ciosáin and occasionally Ó Coscraigh. The element Ó translates to “descendant of”, while the root Caisín is believed to be a diminutive of cas, meaning “curly‑haired”. Consequently, one traditional interpretation is that Cashman began as a nickname for an ancestor noted for his curly hair, with the surname signifying a descendant of that person.
A second line of evidence associates Cashman with the Gaelic term O Ciosáin, which is thought to be derived from cios, meaning “tribute” or “tax”, and the suffix -an indicating “one who performs”. Under this view the name would refer to a tribute bearer or tax collector, a role that may have held prominence within the local society of medieval Ireland. The translation of O Ciosáin as “descendant of the tribute bearer” therefore offers an occupational dimension to the surname.
Anglicisation of the name became apparent in the sixteenth century, producing spelling variants such as Casman and Casmon. These forms also appear in early parish registers. A surviving 1814 witness record lists a William Cashman at St. Nicholas Church in Waterford, while a 1843 marriage licence documents the union of John Shey Cashman and Nora McKinley in Cork. The name is also noted in emigration records, with a fifteen‑year‑old Mary Cashman leaving from Cork aboard the ship Liberty bound for New York on 21 May 1846, during the first year of the Great Potato Famine.
The concentration of the surname in County Cork is reinforced by its attribution to a local tribe whose chief is thought to have regulated tribute collection. In County Kerry the name appears mainly under the transcription Kissane or Cussane, evidence of the way regional dialects influenced the English rendering of the original patronymic.
The Great Famine and subsequent Irish diaspora led many bearers of the name to emigrate to the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. Within the United States the surname is most frequently recorded in states traditionally associated with significant Irish settlement, such as Massachusetts and New York. Canadian records also show a concentrated presence in provinces that received large numbers of nineteenth‑century emigrants. Australian archives contain numerous instances of the name, reflecting the period of penal transportation and later voluntary migration. In the United Kingdom, particularly in the West of England, the surname remains encountered, a reminder of the close ties between the British Isles and the Irish population.
Over the centuries a number of orthographic variants of the surname have been documented. These include Cashin, Casheon, Cashon, Cashion, Cushen, and Cashen. Variations often resulted from the translation of Gaelic phonetics into English spelling conventions, as well as from clerical errors in official records. While the spelling differs, the underlying patronymic root links the variants back to the Gaelic Ó Ciosáin or Ó Caisín.
Today, bearers of the surname Cashman can be found throughout the world, with the name increasingly common in places that participated in the Irish migration movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The surname retains a clear heritage tied to Irish linguistic traditions, while also reflecting the historical roles of its earliest ancestors within their local communities.
Typical given names associated with the Cashman surname
Male
- Andrew
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Patrick
- Paul
- Peter
- Robert
- Stephen
Female
- Caroline
- Christine
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Helen
- Jennifer
- Lesley
- Lorraine
- Mary
- Maureen
- Nicola
- Sarah
- Sharon
- Susan
- Tracey
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Cashman in...
Braille
⠉⠁⠎⠓⠍⠁⠝
Morse
-.-..-.......--.--.
Semaphore
There are approximately 1,317 people named Cashman in the UK. That makes it roughly the 5,944th most common surname in Britain. Around 20 in a million people in Britain are named Cashman.
Surname type: Occupational name
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Cashman
- Michael Cashman - Politician
- David Cashman - Bishop of Arundel and Brighton (1912 to 1971)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.