Show ContentsCust History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Cust is an ancient Anglo-Saxon surname that came from the female personal names Custance and Constance. These medieval names are derived from the Latin name Constantia, which was originally a female form of the name Constantis, which means steadfast or faithful. Cust provides an example of a metronymic surname. Names of this type are derived from the given name of the original bearer's mother.

Early Origins of the Cust family

The surname Cust was first found in Lincolnshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Belton, a village near Grantham, which, at the taking of the Domesday Book census in 1086 consisted of a Church and 5 mills. It was the King's land. From their early beginnings, for the next few centuries, the family name also acquired other estates or manors as branches established themselves throughout England. The major conflicts of the eras, such as the War of the Roses, the English Reformation, and the English Civil War sometimes found them to be in opposing camps, with conflicting interests.

Early History of the Cust family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cust research. Another 89 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1379, 1622, 1631, 1679, 1685, 1690, 1700, 1701 and 1834 are included under the topic Early Cust History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cust Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Cust has been recorded under many different variations, including Cust, Custe, Coust, Coost, Cuss and others.

Early Notables of the Cust family

Notables of the family at this time include

  • Sir Richard Cust, 1st Baronet (1622-1700), a British barrister and Member of Parliament for Stamford (1679-1685)...


United States Cust migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Cust or a variant listed above:

Cust Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Christopher Cust who arrived in America in 1746
Cust Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Joseph Cust, aged 40, who arrived in Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1822 [1]

Contemporary Notables of the name Cust (post 1700) +

  • Sir Lionel Henry Cust (1859-1929), English art historian
  • Sir Edward Cust (1794-1878), British general and military historian, sixth son of Brownlow Cust, first Lord Brownlow, and brother of John Cust, first Earl Brownlow [2]
  • Sir John Cust PC (1718-1770), 3rd Baronet, a British politician, Speaker of the House of Commons from 1761 to 1770 [2]
  • Sir Richard Cust, 2nd Baronet
  • Adelbert Wellington Brownlow Cust (1844-1921), 3rd Earl Brownlow, British Conservative politician
  • Robert Needham Cust (1821-1909), British colonial administrator
  • Geoffrey Cust Faber (1889-1961), British academic, publisher and poet


  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)
  2. Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 30 June 2020


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