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

Covian, 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 Covian surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Covian in America

Covian is the 90113th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Covian surname appeared 205 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Covian.

We can also compare 2010 data for Covian 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 Covian

The surname COVIAN is believed to have originated in the Brittany region of northwestern France during the late Middle Ages. It is likely derived from the old Breton word "kov," meaning "woods" or "forest," suggesting that the earliest bearers of this name may have lived in or near a heavily forested area.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the COVIAN surname can be found in the Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Redon, a medieval cartulary from the 11th century that documents land transactions and property ownership in the region. This suggests that the name had already established itself in Brittany by this time.

In the 13th century, a nobleman named Renaud COVIAN is mentioned in the chronicles of the Duchy of Brittany as a participant in the Breton War of Succession. This conflict, which lasted from 1212 to 1234, was a dispute over the succession to the ducal throne of Brittany.

During the 14th century, the COVIAN name appears to have spread beyond Brittany, with records indicating families bearing this surname in the neighboring regions of Normandy and Anjou. One notable individual from this period was Guillaume COVIAN, a merchant from Nantes who was granted special trading privileges by the Duke of Brittany in 1368.

In the 15th century, the COVIAN name is associated with the town of Coëvrons in the Mayenne department of northwestern France. It is believed that the place name Coëvrons may have derived from the same linguistic root as the surname COVIAN, further reinforcing the connection between the name and forested areas.

Throughout the centuries, several individuals with the COVIAN surname have achieved notable accomplishments. These include:

1. Jeanne COVIAN (c. 1480 – 1550), a prominent landowner and philanthropist in the Rennes region of Brittany.
2. Pierre COVIAN (1529 – 1592), a renowned sculptor and architect who worked on numerous religious buildings in Normandy and Brittany.
3. Étienne COVIAN (1631 – 1697), a Breton explorer and navigator who participated in several expeditions to the Americas and the Caribbean.
4. Marie-Françoise COVIAN (1737 – 1808), a celebrated poet and author from Nantes, whose works explored themes of nature and rural life.
5. Émile COVIAN (1865 – 1927), a French military officer and strategist who played a significant role in the planning of the Battle of Verdun during World War I.

While the COVIAN surname has its roots in the historical regions of Brittany and neighboring areas, it has since spread to other parts of France and beyond, carried by individuals and families over the course of centuries of migration and cultural exchange.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Covian

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

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 Covian 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 Covian 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 Covian was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!