Explore the Family Name Cockayne

The meaning of Cockayne

English (Midlands and Yorkshire): nickname for a dreamer, from Middle English cokayne ‘cloud-cuckooland’, the name of an imaginary paradise (Old French (pays de) cocaigne, from Middle Low German kōkenje, a diminutive of kōke ‘cake’, since in this land the houses were thought to be made of cake). It may also be a variant of Cocking or from the unflattering Middle English nickname cokin (Old French coquin) ‘disreputable person’.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Cockayne in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Cockayne showed a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 60,390th most popular surname, but by 2010 it had fallen to 62,531st, marking a decrease of 3.55%. However, the actual count of people with this surname increased from 312 in 2000 to 320 in 2010, reflecting a growth of 2.56%. Nonetheless, its proportion among every 100,000 surnames dropped by 8.33%, from 0.12 in 2000 to 0.11 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#60,390	#62,531	-3.55%
Count	312	320	2.56%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.11	-8.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Cockayne

When considering the ethnic identity associated with the surname Cockayne based on the Decennial U.S. Census, there is a noticeable predominance of the White ethnicity. In 2000, 99.04% of individuals with this surname identified as White, although this number slightly decreased to 96.88% by 2010. There were no recorded instances of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in both 2000 and 2010. Furthermore, no individuals claimed two or more races in association with this surname during these years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	99.04%	96.88%	-2.18%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%