Show ContentsCowsert History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Cowsert family

The surname Cowsert was first found in on the Isle of Uist, in the Hebrides in Scotland, which is named for the Irish King, Colla Uais who was deposed in Ireland by Muedach Tireach and was banished with 300 of their principal chiefs to the Hebrides in 327 A.D. They became known as the kingdom of Ailech and gave birth to the kindred of St. Columba and the Abbots of Iona. Descended were the Kings of Scotland from 1034 to 1286. The MacDonalds, Kings of the Isles were descended through Somerled to MacCuish or MacCooish.

Early History of the Cowsert family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cowsert research. Another 113 words (8 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cowsert History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cowsert Spelling Variations

Spelling variations were extremely common in medieval names, since scribes from that era recorded names according to sound rather than a standard set of rules. Cowsert has appeared in various documents spelled MacCuish, MacCooish, MacCuis, MacCoise, MacKewish, MacKewsh and many more.

Early Notables of the Cowsert family

More information is included under the topic Early Cowsert Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Cowsert migration to the United States +

Significant portions of the populations of both the United States and Canada are still made up of the ancestors of Dalriadan families. Some of those in Canada originally settled the United States, but went north as United Empire Loyalists in the American War of Independence. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the ancestors of many Scots on both sides of the border begin to recover their collective national heritage through Clan societies and highland games. Some of the first North American settlers carried this name or one of its variants:

Cowsert Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • R P Cowsert, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 1


  1. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


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