Cornish Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Cornish last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
Order your pack and our heraldry team researches and paints the Cornish coat of arms for you.
Meaning and origin of the Cornish last name
Meaning of the Cornish last name: someone from Cornwall. Cornish is an ethnic or regional surname for a person from Cornwall, given usually when they lived elsewhere in England. The county name comes from the Cornovii people and a word for foreigners. Many families with this last name are documented in Devon, Somerset and the English Midlands.
Arms associated with the Cornish name
Sharing a surname establishes no coat of arms entitlement; heraldry follows documented individual lineages.
Get your full Cornish family history
This is only a glimpse of the Cornish story. The full Cornish history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Cornish coat of arms. Get the full Cornish report.
Cornish name FAQ
What does the Cornish name mean?
Someone from Cornwall.
Where does the Cornish surname come from?
It originates in England, and is also found in the United States and Australia.
Is there a Cornish coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Cornish coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: Elsdon C. Smith, Dictionary of American Family Names (1956), individual surname entries; modern indexed dictionary entries supersede conflicting interpretations.; Forebears, Surnam.es and individual surname distribution references.