Cusick
A surname found in Irish and Scottish usage, often explained as a reduced or altered form of names like Cusack, though some writers also linked it to Gaelic place-name or clothing words.
The #6,640 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 60,550 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name has several proposed explanations in older scholarship. One line of interpretation connects it with Gaelic words such as casach, meaning an ascent or steep place, or casag, meaning a long coat or cassock; on that view, it could be locational or descriptive. Another possibility is that Cusick is simply a shortened or altered form related to Cusack/Cussick, a pattern that fits the way surnames often shifted in spelling over time.
History
The name appears in Irish-American and Scottish contexts, and later spelling forms such as Cussick and Cusack often sit close beside it in surname lists. Nineteenth-century authors sometimes treated it as a variant spelling rather than a fully separate surname. In the United States it is uncommon but established, with bearers spread across English-speaking communities.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century commentator even jokingly glossed the name as referring to a hairstyle, showing how playful some surname explanations could be.
From the historical record
“elector of Saxony. CUSICK. Kessoch, a town near the Moray Frith, Scotland ; casach, G-aelic, an ascent going up by steps. Casag, in Gaelic, signifies a long coat or cassock, formerly a cloak or gown worn by the clergy over the other garments. The name may be local, from the place, or from the peculiar dress worn by…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names