Show ContentsCoch History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Coch

What does the name Coch mean?

Bavaria, Germany is the ancestral home of the Coch family. The Coch surname is derived from the Latin word "coquus," which denotes the "art of cookery." Coch was originally an occupational name, for a cook.

Early Origins of the Coch family

The surname Coch was first found in Bavaria, where the family made a considerable contribution to the feudal society which shaped modern Europe.

Early History of the Coch family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Coch research. Another 296 words (21 lines of text) covering the years 1544, 1552, 1637, 1688, 1694, 1738, 1747, 1748, 1769, 1815 and 1852 are included under the topic Early Coch History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Coch Spelling Variations

In the medieval era, many different cultural groups lived in the German states. There are thus many regional variations of German surnames from that era. Westphalians spoke Low German, which is similar to modern Dutch. Many German names carry suffixes that identify where they came from. Others have phrases attached that identify something about the original bearer. Other variations in German names resulted from the fact that medieval scribes worked without the aid of any spelling rules. The spelling variations of the name Coch include Koch, Koche, Kochen, Koech, Koeche, Koechen, Coch, Coche, Cochen, Coech, Coeche, Coechen, Koechle, Koechly, Koechli, Kock, Kochs, Kocks and many more.

Early Notables of the Coch family

Prominent among members of the name Coch in this period include Conrad Reinhold von Koch, an advisor on justice at the royal Schleswig-Holstein court, who was knighted in 1769. He was born in 1738 as the son of a chamberlain of the court at Darmstadt and was the brother of the famous scholar and professor of state law at the University of Strassburg...
Another 62 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Coch Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


Coch migration to the United States +

Thousands of German settlers came to North America between the mid-17th and mid-20th centuries. The hardships of the long voyage were balanced by the opportunity to escape poverty and religious persecution. The descendents of these settlers still populate the states of Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, Illinois, and California. Many also live in Ontario and the prairie provinces of Canada. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families has revealed a number of immigrants bearing the name Coch or a variant listed above:

Coch Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Jurg Coch, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1727 aboard the ship "James Goodwill" 1
  • Micharl Coch, aged 33, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1732 1
  • Hendrick Coch, aged 23, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1738 1
  • Henrick Coch, aged 23, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1738 1
  • Johanes Coch, aged 78, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1738 1
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Coch Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Jose Coch, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1860 1

Coch migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Coch Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century
  • George Coch, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1757

Coch migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Coch Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • M. Coch, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Excelsior" in 1870 2
  • Wilhelm Coch, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Excelsior" in 1870 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Coch (post 1700) +

  • Santiago "Santi" Coch Castillo (1960-2024), Spanish football player and manager


  1. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  2. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 4th November 2011). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html


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