Coen
Usually an Irish surname, often a shortened anglicized form of a Gaelic name such as Mac Eoin or related forms meaning “son of John.”
The #7,554 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 70,169 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Coen is most often explained in Irish contexts as an anglicized form of Gaelic names built on Eoin, the Irish form of John; related spellings such as MacCone, Keown, and Keon point in the same direction. The historical sources also show a continental and English coincidence of similar-looking forms, including Flemish Coen and French local-name forms such as Cone, so not every bearer has the same origin. In practice, the Irish patronymic explanation is the most common one for the surname as used today.
History
The name appears in Irish surname scholarship alongside a cluster of related forms derived from Gaelic personal names, and it has been recorded in Ireland under several spellings. The sources also note that Coen can overlap with continental surnames of different origin, especially in Flemish and French usage. In English-language records, spelling variation has long been common, so Coen may represent more than one surname tradition.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old onomastic works even warn that similar-looking surname forms can be confounded by scribes, which is one reason Coen has more than one possible history.
From the historical record
“Cone. From Cosne ; a loc. n., France. Or N Konr (noble) ; Dch. Con ; FI. Coen ; p.n. Or Irish M'Cone Congdon. A loc. n., Cornw. Congrave. See Congreve Congreve. A loc. n., Staffs”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)