Find out how popular the last name Cousineau is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Cousineau.

Cousineau, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Cousineau surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cousineau in America

Cousineau is the 13541st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cousineau surname appeared 2,240 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Cousineau.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cousineau to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Cousineau

The surname Cousineau has its origins in France, tracing back to the medieval era. It is a French patronymic name derived from the Old French word "cousin," meaning cousin or relative. The name likely emerged as a way to identify individuals by their familial relationships within a community.

Cousineau is a variant spelling of the more common French surname Cousin. The addition of the suffix "-eau" was a common practice in certain regions of France, particularly in the northern and central areas. This suffix often denoted a diminutive form or a nickname.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cousineau can be found in the Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Saint-Père de Chartres, a medieval manuscript dating back to the 12th century. This document mentions a certain "Robertus Cousineau," indicating the presence of the surname in the region of Chartres during that time period.

In the 13th century, records from the Trésor des Chartes in Paris mention a "Jehan Cousineau" from the village of Bray-sur-Somme in northern France. This suggests that the name was well-established in various parts of the country by that time.

One notable figure bearing the surname Cousineau was Jacques Cousineau, a French Jesuit missionary who lived from 1625 to 1687. He spent many years in New France (now Canada) working among the Indigenous populations, particularly the Huron people.

Another historical figure was Pierre Cousineau, a French soldier and explorer who was born in 1655 and died in 1719. He was part of the expedition led by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, which explored the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico region in the late 17th century.

In the 18th century, the name Cousineau appeared in various records associated with the Acadian expulsion from what is now eastern Canada. Some Acadians with the surname Cousineau were deported to various British colonies along the Atlantic coast.

The surname Cousineau can also be traced back to several place names in France, such as Coussineau, a small village in the department of Eure-et-Loir, and Cousinat, a hamlet in the department of Puy-de-Dôme. These place names may have influenced the spelling variations of the surname over time.

Other notable individuals with the surname Cousineau include Jean-Baptiste Cousineau, a French-Canadian fur trader and explorer who lived from 1730 to 1799, and François-Xavier Cousineau, a Canadian artist and painter born in 1828 and known for his landscapes and portraits.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cousineau

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Cousineau.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Cousineau was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Cousineau has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Cousineau was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Cousineau, please contact us.

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