Cohn History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Belgium
Germany
Ireland
Israel

Etymology of Cohn

What does the name Cohn mean?

Jewish surnames were reserved for exceptional individuals, people who were scholars and poets. Therefore, families began to use their surnames as a sign of prominence because of their established family name. 1

The distinguished surname Cohn is a proud sign of an ancient Jewish culture. The surname Cohn is an occupational surname for a priest, and it comes from the Hebrew word "kohen." Traditionally, priests were considered to have been members of a hereditary caste, descended from Aaron, the brother of Moses. Not all Jewish bearers of the surname Cohn belong to this caste, however. When many Jews were being forced to join the Russian Army for a term of 25 years, a number of them changed their last name to Cohn, because members of the clergy were exempt from service.

Cohn Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Cohen, Kahn, Cohan, Cohn, Coen, Kohn, Kohen, Cahan, Cahn, Cahen, Kahen, Cohane, Kahane, Kahan, Cohani, Cahani, Cahany, Kahany, Cahana, Kahana, Cohener, Kohener, Kohaner, Kahner, Kahaner, Cohansky, Cahansky, Kahansky, Kogen, Kogan, Cagan, Kagan, Kuhn and many more.

Cohn Ranking

the United States, the name Cohn is the 3,615^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 2

Cohn migration to the United States +

Cohn Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Henry Cohn, who arrived in Charleston, South Carolina in 1831 3
Moretz Cohn, who arrived in New York, NY in 1840-1853 3
Joh Ludwig Cohn, aged 25, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1843 3
Moris Cohn, aged 29, who landed in Missouri in 1848 3
Joe Cohn, who landed in Texas in 1850-1906 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Cohn Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Marel Cohn, who arrived in Arkansas in 1906 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Cohn (post 1700) +

Gary David Cohn (b. 1960), American investment banker, 11th Director of the National Economic Council in 2017; he resigned from his position in March 2018
Gary Cohn (1952-2024), American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and adjunct professor at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
Lawrence Cohn (1932-2023), American lawyer, record company executive, and blues collector
Ronald Herbert Cohn (1943-2022), American zoologist and research collaborator of psychologist Francine Patterson in her work in training Koko the gorilla in the use of American sign language
Avern Levin Cohn (1924-2022), American Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (1999-2022)
Lawrence H. Cohn (1937-2016), American pioneering cardiac surgeon, researcher, and medical educator, awarded the first endowed Chair in Cardiac Surgery at Harvard Medical School
Linda Cohn (b. 1959), American sportscaster with ESPN
Harold W. Cohn (b. 1913), American Democratic Party politician, Member of New York State Assembly, 1959-68 4
Edward I. Cohn, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Minnesota, 1928 5
... (Another 27 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Sources +

Weiss, Nelly. The Origin of Jewish family names: Morphology and History. Peter Lang AG, 2002. Digital
"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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 15) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html