COSGROVE
Cosgrove is an Irish surname, anglicised from the Gaelic Mac Coscraigh meaning “son of Coscrach”. The personal name Coscrach is derived from the Gaelic word cos which denotes “foot” and crach meaning “brave” or “vigorous”, or alternatively from coscur meaning “victory” or “triumph”. Consequently the surname can be interpreted to signify a descendant of a victorious or vigorous person.
The earliest recorded spelling of the name appears in the late tenth century. A bishop known as Coningus O'Coscraigh who died in 997, and was Bishop of Clonmacnois during the reign of Brian Boru, is documented. In the thirteenth century, Benedictus O'Cascry of the Connacht sept held the office of Bishop of Killaloe until his death in 1325.
Throughout the Middle Ages the name was adapted into a number of versions. In County Cork it is a variant of Cosgrave, which itself is the anglicised form of O'Coscraigh – the patronymic notation for a male descendant of Coscrach. Another sept bearing the same root name, often rendered Cosker, is located in south‑east Leinster, around north Wicklow near Bray. The surname also appears in Ulster and Connacht. Its different spellings – such as MacCosgrove, O'Cosgrove, Cosgrave, Coscrave, Cusgrave, Coscrugh, Coscroe, Cosgrau, Cusgrove and Cosgro – reflect the manner in which Gaelic names were Anglicised in the periods of British rule, often dropping the prefixes Mac and O’ that signified “son of” and “grandson of”.
The surname was first introduced into Britain by Irish famine immigrants during the Great Famine of 1845–1847. Church registers from the period record the christenings of Robert Cosgriff (son of Robert and Catron) at Inch by Gorey, Co. Wexford on 5 September 1779, and of Thomas Cosgriffe (son of James and Elizabeth) at Monkstown, Dublin on 14 August 1784.
As emigration continued, bearers of the name settled throughout the English-speaking world. Today the surname is most common in Ireland and the United States, with significant populations also in England, Australia and Canada, particularly in areas with large Irish diaspora communities. A family seat was historically situated in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, before members migrated to other parts of the island and abroad.
In sum, the Cosgrove surname is a testament to Gaelic heritage, denoting kinship and a legacy of victory or vigorousness that has travelled from the Irish uplands to communities across the globe.
Typical given names associated with the Cosgrove surname
Male
- Andrew
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Stephen
- Thomas
Female
- Ann
- Anne
- Carol
- Catherine
- Elizabeth
- Janet
- Julie
- Margaret
- Mary
- Patricia
- Sandra
- Sarah
- Susan
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 Cosgrove in...
Braille
⠉⠕⠎⠛⠗⠕⠧⠑
Morse
-.-.---...--..-.---...-.
Semaphore
There are approximately 5,792 people named Cosgrove in the UK. That makes it roughly the 1,634th most common surname in Britain. Around 89 in a million people in Britain are named Cosgrove.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Cosgrove
- Miranda Cosgrove - American actress and singer-songwriter
- Sam Cosgrove - Football player
- Stuart Cosgrove - Journalist
- Denis Cosgrove - Professor (1948 to 2008)
- Hazel Cosgrove, Lady Cosgrove - Judge
- Brian Cosgrove -
- Stephen Cosgrove - Scottish football player
- Jack Cosgrove - Rugby union player
- Jimmy Donny Cosgrove - Comedian, actor and writer
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.