Cummins — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: O Coimin / Mac Coimin
Meaning: 'descendant of Coimin, a personal name of uncertain root, possibly linked to cam meaning bent or crooked'
Traditional stronghold: Clare, Cork
Pronunciation: KUM-inz; Irish O Coimin: oh KUM-in
History of the Cummins name
Cummins anglicises O Coimin or Mac Coimin, names found separately in Clare, Cork and Galway, with the Clare sept forming part of the wider Dalcassian grouping. The surname's precise root is debated, but it likely relates to a personal descriptive name in use since the early medieval period. Because the underlying name arose in more than one region independently, Cummins developed as a moderately widespread rather than territorially singular surname. It anglicised into several forms over time, complicating tracing, but Cummins remained the dominant modern spelling in most of Munster and south Connacht. The name spread through the usual channels of 19th- and 20th-century Irish emigration to Britain, the US and Australia.
Variants: Cummin · Comyn · MacCumin
Famous bearers of the name
- Frank Cummins — Cork hurler, multiple All-Ireland winner
- Pauline Cummins — Irish artist
- Stephen Cummins — Irish rugby player
- Andy Cummins — Irish rally co-driver
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murphy · O'Brien · O'Sullivan · McCarthy · Kennedy · Quinn · Daly · Collins