Show ContentsCooyny History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The history of the name Cooyny begins in the days of the Anglo-Saxon tribes in Britain. It was a name for a swift runner or a timid person. The surname Cooyny is derived from the Old English words conig and cony, which mean rabbit. [1] "The fact that Thomas Cony (1323, Freeman of York) was a pelter suggests that the surname may also have denoted a dealer in rabbit-skins, perhaps also a furrier." [2]

Early Origins of the Cooyny family

The surname Cooyny was first found in many counties throughout ancient Britain. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list Richard Conni, Salop (Shropshire) and John Conay, Huntingdonshire. [1]

"Sire Hubert and Sire William de Coni held lands from Philip Augustus c. 1204. Robert Coignee occurs in Gloucester 1230." [3]

Richard le Cony was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1296 and later the same rolls included Robert Cony who held lands in Cambridgeshire in 1327. [2]

One of the strongholds of the family was found in Lincolnshire where "in the 16th century Richard and Thomas Coney, father and son, who were Merchants of the Staple of Calais, owned the manor - house, Basingthorpe; the same Thomas Coney, who accumulated a great fortune and was High Sheriff of Rutland in 1573. He gave £100 towards the national fund collected for the defence of the country at the time of the expected invasion of the Spanish Armada in 1588." [4]

From these early entries the name expanded to places like Coney Arm, Newfoundland [5] and Coney's Castle, an Iron Age hill fort in Dorset, England.

Early History of the Cooyny family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cooyny research. Another 132 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1585, 1592, 1595, 1630, 1645, 1646, 1676, 1679, 1682, 1685, 1713, 1786, 1794, 1806, 1815 and 1833 are included under the topic Early Cooyny History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cooyny Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, early Anglo-Saxon surnames like Cooyny are characterized by many spelling variations. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages, even literate people changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Cooyny include: Coney, Coyney, Coyny, Cony, Conney, Conye, Coyney, Cony, Conny, Connay and many more.

Early Notables of the Cooyny family

Notables of the family at this time include Robert Conny (also Cony) (1646?-1713), an English physician. He was the "son of John Conny, surgeon, and twice mayor of Rochester, born in or about 1645. He was a member of Magdalen College, Oxford, and proceeded B.A. on 8 June 1676, M.A. 3 May 1679, M.B. 2 May 1682, and M.D. 9 July 1685." [6]John Coney (1786-1833), was an English draughtsman and engraver, born in Ratcliff Highway, London. He was apprenticed to an architect, but never followed the profession. Among his early studies were pencil...
Another 92 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cooyny Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ireland Migration of the Cooyny family to Ireland

Some of the Cooyny family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Cooyny family

Many English families tired of political and religious strife left Britain for the new colonies in North America. Although the trip itself offered no relief - conditions on the ships were extremely cramped, and many travelers arrived diseased, starving, and destitute - these immigrants believed the opportunities that awaited them were worth the risks. Once in the colonies, many of the families did indeed prosper and, in turn, made significant contributions to the culture and economies of the growing colonies. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families has revealed a number of immigrants bearing the name Cooyny or a variant listed above: John Connay arrived in Philadelphia in 1865; Edmund Conney arrived in Barbados in 1680; John Conney settled in Boston in 1763; Richard Coney settled in New England in 1665.



  1. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  2. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  3. The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
  4. Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
  5. Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland Montreal: McGill's-Queen's University Press 1998. Print. (ISBN 0-7735-1782-0)
  6. Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print


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