Cochrane

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Cochrane is a surname of Scottish derivation.

It is found throughout the British Isles but especially in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. The surname is also found in the United States and in the nations of the Commonwealth of Nations.

In Ireland, the surname Cochrane is especially concentrated in the northern province of Ulster where it was introduced by Scottish settlers during the Plantation period of the Seventeenth Century. In Ulster, the surname Cochrane is especially concentrated in the counties of Antrim, Derry, Down and Tyrone and found almost exclusively in the Northern Irish Protestant community.

The surname itself can be traced back to the lands of Cochrane located near Paisley in Renfrewshire in Scotland. There are a variety of legends concerning the origins of the name, one being that the name of Cochrane may be the combination of two Gaelic words, meaning ‘the roar of battle’ or ‘battle-cry’. There is another, more fanciful explanation which states that, in ancient days, there was a great battle in which an early member of the family fought with such outstanding bravery as to bring about victory for his side. In recognition of his exceptional valour, his leader singled him out from the other warriors and clapping him on the shoulder, called him ‘coch ran’, meaning ‘brave fellow’. Another legend is that the name in its original form was Coueran meaning "Red Brook".

The Cochrane coat of arms depicts three boars heads, they are said to mark the exploit of an ancient Cochrane warrior who is reputed to have slain three wild boars then terrorising the countryside.

The name Corcoran is not at all related to the name Cochrane. Rather, Corcoran is the anglicized version of an old Irish surname called O' Corcorain. This anglicanization was part of a program by the English to anglicize the native Irish during the 17th and 18th Centuries. The name Cochrane on the other hand is a "Plantation" name brought over by Presbyterian Scots settlers during the Plantation of Ulster.