Cohran Surname History

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland
England

The Strathclyde-Briton people of ancient Scotland were the first to use the name Cohran. The Cohran family lived in Renfrewshire, where they took on the name of the lands of Cochrane in the parish of Paisley, near Glasgow. This place name is of uncertain derivation, perhaps stemming from the Welsh word "coch," meaning "red."

Early Origins of the Cohran family

The surname Cohran was first found in Renfrewshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Rinn Friù), a historic county of Scotland, today encompassing the Council Areas of Renfrew, East Renfrewshire, and Iverclyde, in the Strathclyde region of southwestern Scotland, where the first record of the name was Waldeve de Coueran, who was witness to a charter issued by Dugal, son of Syfyn, to Walter Stewart, fifth Earl of Menteith, regarding several lands in Kintyre. William de Coughran of Lanark swore an oath of allegiance to King Edward I of England during his short conquest of Scotland in 1296. Walter Cochrane was the first record of the more popular spelling used today in 1262. His son William Cochrane, the second chief of the Clan, also rendered homage to King Edward I in 1296.

Early History of the Cohran family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cohran research. Another 116 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1482, 1600, 1605, 1659, 1669, 1683, 1685, 1690, 1691, 1707, 1708, 1713, 1717 and 1778 are included under the topic Early Cohran History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cohran Spelling Variations

Medieval Scottish names are rife with spelling variations. This is due to the fact that scribes in that era spelled according to the sound of words, rather than any set of rules. Cohran has been spelled Cochrane, Cochran, Cocrane, Cocran, Cochren, Cockram, Cockran, Cockren and many more.

Early Notables of the Cohran family

Notable amongst the family at this time was William Cochrane (1605-1685), 1st Earl of Dundonald. Of his children was Sir John Cochrane (d. 1707), who was a Member of Parliament for Ayrshire in 1669; he was suspected of complicity in the Rye House Plot, and fled to Holland in 1683, returned to Scotland...
Another 53 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cohran Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Cohran family to Ireland

Some of the Cohran family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 31 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Cohran family

Many Scots were left with few options other than to leave their homeland for the colonies across the Atlantic. Some of these families fought to defend their newfound freedom in the American War of Independence. Others went north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. The ancestors of all of these families have recently been able to rediscover their roots through Clan societies and other Scottish organizations. Among them: Hugues Cochran, who settled in Quebec in 1685; Richard Cochrane, who came to Antigua in 1709; Agnes Cochran, who settled in Charles Town, SC in 1772; Ann Cochran, a Scotch-Irish settler, who came to New Hampshire in 1722.