Contents [hide]

Cusick History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Cusick History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland
England

When the Anglo-Normans began to settle in Ireland, they brought the tradition of local surnames to an island which already had a Gaelic naming system of hereditary surnames established. Unlike the Irish, the Anglo-Normans had an affinity for local surnames. Local surnames, such as Cusick, were formed from the name of a place or a geographical landmark. Often, these place names were prefixed by "de," which means "from" in French: in later years, the prefix sometimes became joined to the name, or was sometimes dropped. The Cusick family name is thought to have come from any of several places named Cussac in France; such as Cussac in Guienne (Guyenne), Cussac in Limousin, or from Cussac in Auvergne. These place names are thought to derive from Cucius or Cussius, a Romano-Gallic personal name, along with the suffix "-acum." After the name came to Ireland, it took on the Gaelic form Ciomhsóg. However, in the county of Clare, the Gaelic form of the name is Mac Iosóg.

Early Origins of the Cusick family

The surname Cusick was first found in County Meath (Irish: An Mhí) anciently part of the kingdom of Brega, located in Eastern Ireland, in the province of Leinster, where Jeoffrey Le Cusack was first recorded. He was named after a town of that name in France and came to Ireland shortly after the English invasion. Adam Cusack, his grandson "slew William Barret and his brothers in Connaught, on account of a quarrel about lands " in 1282. 1

Walter de Cusack (c.1270- 1334) was an Anglo-Irish judge, magnate and military commander of the fourteenth century. He was a younger son of Sir Andrew Cusack of Gerrardstown, County Meath. Nicholas Cusack, Bishop of Kildare (1279-1299), was a cousin.

Another reference has a slightly different twist on the origin in France. In this reference, the name "is derived from a place in Guienne, France, and was first anglicized as de Cussac." 2 Whichever origin is true, the occurrence of the name in England was indeed rare.

Early History of the Cusick family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cusick research. Another 194 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1211, 1280, 1300, 1409, 1415, 1490, 1496, 1541, 1542, 1550, 1551, 1571, 1687, 1770, 1788 and 1861 are included under the topic Early Cusick History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cusick Spelling Variations

Church officials and medieval scribes often spelled early surnames as they sounded. This practice often resulted in many spelling variations of even a single name. Early versions of the name Cusick included: Cusack, Cusacke, Cussack, Cossack, Cosack, Cewsack, Ceusack, Cowsack, Coussack, Cussach, Cussache, Cussoch, Coussack, M'Cusack, Cussick and many more.

Early Notables of the Cusick family

Notable amongst the family up to this time was Thomas Cusack was Mayor of Dublin in 1409; and Sir Thomas Cusack, who fought as a lancer at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.Thomas Cusack, Cusack or de Cusack (died c.1496) was an Irish barrister and judge who held the offices of Attorney General for Ireland and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. Sir Thomas Cusack (1490-1571) was Lord...
Another 66 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cusick Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cusick Ranking

In the United States, the name Cusick is the 6,233^rd most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 3

Cusick migration to the United States +

Ireland went through one of the most devastating periods in its history with the arrival of the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s. Many also lost their lives from typhus, fever and dysentery. And poverty was the general rule as tenant farmers were often evicted because they could not pay the high rents. Emigration to North America gave hundreds of families a chance at a life where work, freedom, and land ownership were all possible. For those who made the long journey, it meant hope and survival. The Irish emigration to British North America and the United States opened up the gates of industry, commerce, education and the arts. Early immigration and passenger lists have shown many Irish people bearing the name Cusick:

Cusick Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

John Peter Cusick, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1744 4

Cusick Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Michael Cusick, aged 23, who arrived in Missouri in 1840 4
Peter Cusick, who landed in Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1854 4
John Cusick, who landed in Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1856 4
Catherine Cusick, aged 17, who landed in America, in 1892
Ellen Cusick, aged 19, who immigrated to the United States from Mullycastle, in 1892
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Cusick Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Bertha Cusick, aged 24, who landed in America from Bolton, in 1904
Ana Cusick, aged 40, who immigrated to the United States from Dundee, in 1906
Annie Cusick, aged 25, who settled in America from Castlebar, Ireland, in 1908
James Cusick, aged 30, who immigrated to America from Castlebar, Ireland, in 1908
Alice Winifred Cusick, aged 17, who landed in America from Macclesfield, England, in 1909
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Cusick migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Cusick Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Anniver Cusick, aged 29, who arrived in Canada in 1823
John Cusick, who settled in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland in 1827
John Cusick, aged 26, a labourer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1834 aboard the brig "Trafalgar" from Galway, Ireland
James Cusick, aged 20, a labourer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1834 aboard the brig "Trafalgar" from Galway, Ireland
Mary Cusick, aged 26, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1834 aboard the brig "Trafalgar" from Galway, Ireland

Contemporary Notables of the name Cusick (post 1700) +

Suzanne G. Cusick, American music historian and musicologist
Andrew Daniel Cusick (1857-1929), American Major League Baseball catcher
Dennis Cusick (1800-1824), American Tuscarora painter from New York and one of the founders of the Iroquois Realist Style of painting
Frederick Michael Cusick (1918-2009), American ice hockey broadcaster
David Cusick (1780-1831), American Tuscarora artist and the author of David Cusick’s Sketches of Ancient History of the Six Nations
Richie Tankersley Cusick (b. 1952), American author
Raymond Patrick "Ray" Cusick (1928-2013), London-born, BBC designer, best known for designing the Daleks, a race of aliens for the science fiction television series Doctor Who
Edmund Cusick (1962-2007), British writer and academic
Henry Ian Cusick (b. 1969), Scottish-Peruvian actor

Citations +

O'Hart, John, Irish Pedigrees 5th Edition in 2 Volumes. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1976. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0737-4)
MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families Their Names, Arms and Origins 4th Edition. Dublin: Irish Academic, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2364-7)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)