Cousin Family History

French: nickname from Old French cusin cosin ‘first cousin’ from Latin consobrinus used (also) in the sense ‘friend crony’. Compare with English: nickname from Middle English cusin cosin ‘kinsman or cousin’ a borrowing from Old French (see 1 above).

The surname would thus have denoted a person related in some way to a prominent figure in the neighborhood. In some cases it may also have been a nickname for someone who used the term cousin frequently as a familiar term of address.