Collins (surname)
The surname Collins has a variety of likely origins in Britain and Ireland:
- Anglo-Saxon: A patronymic surname based on the name Colin, an English diminutive form of Nicholas. In England, Collins usually signified "son of Colin."
- Irish: "cuilein" = darling, a term of endearment applied to a whelp or young animal. The medieval surname was Ua Cuiléin, which has usually become Ó Coileáin today.
- Welsh: Collen = hazel, hazel grove.
Alternative spellings or related surnames include Collin, Colling, Coling, Collings, Colings, Collis, Coliss, Collen, and Collens.[1]
The earliest documented evidence of the name in England dates back as far as the twelfth and thirteenth centuries where several instances have been recorded. One Colinus de Andresia appears in the pipe rolls of Berkshire in 1191, while a Colinus is mentioned in Hartopp's Register of the Freeman of Leicester recorded in 1196. The name Colinc is also mentioned several times in the Domesday Book. The personal name Colin from which the surname derives has an even older history; Ceawlin, the king of the West Saxons, Caelin, a brother of St Chad, and the early Welsh saint, Kollen, all have names related to Colin. In Ireland, Collins may be regarded as a genuinely indigenous Irish name; in fact, it is one of the most numerous surnames, ranked number 30.[2]
A
B
- Barbara-Rose Collins, American politician
- Barnabas Collins, fictional vampire from Dark Shadows
- Ben Collins (disambiguation)
- Bev Collins, Canadian politician
- Bill Collins (disambiguation)
- Billy Collins, American poet
- Bob Collins (disambiguation)
- Bobby Collins, Scottish footballer
- Bootsy Collins, American funk bassist, singer, and songwriter
- Brent Collins, American actor
- Brian Collins (disambiguation)
- Bridget Jean Collins, maiden name of American playwright Jean Kerr
- Bud Collins, American journalist
C
- Cardiss Collins, American politician
- Careena Collins, American porn actress
- Carla Collins, an entertainer reporter
- Catfish Collins, American guitarist, brother of Bootsy Collins
- Cecil Collins, British artist
- Cecil Collins (football), American football player and prison inmate.
- Charles Allston Collins, British Pre-Raphaelite artist.
- Chris Collins (disambiguation)
- Christopher Collins (disambiguation)
- Chuck Collins, American author on economic matters
- Clifton Collins Jr., American actor
D
E
- Eamon Collins (1954–1999), IRA member
- Eamonn Collins (footballer) (born 1965), Irish footballer
- Earl Collins, Canadian politician
- Edward "Cocky" Trowbridge Collins Sr. (1887–1951), Major League baseball player
- Edward Joseph Collins (1886–1951), American composer and pianist
- Edward Treacher Collins, British surgeon
- Edwyn Collins, Scottish musician
- Eileen Collins, American astronaut
- Elizabeth Collins, Irish Contemporary Artist, www.elizabethcollins.ie
- Elizabeth Collins, Canadian swimmer
- Eoin Collins, Irish tennis player
- Eric Collins, adventurer
F
G
H
I
J
- Jacinta Collins, Australian politician
- Jack Collins, one of several people including:
- Jackie Collins, British novelist
- James Collins, one of several people including:
- Jane Collins, fictional character from EastEnders
- Jason Collins, NBA Basketball player
- Jason Collins, American surfer
- Jarron Collins, NBA Basketball player
- Jeremiah Collins, fictional character from Dark Shadows
- Jerry Collins, New Zealand rugby player
- Jess Collins, American artist
- Jessica Collins, American actress, starring in Tru Calling
- Jessica Collins, American actress, starring in Rubicon and The Nine
- Jimmy Collins, American baseball player
- Jim Collins, inventor and Rhodes Scholar
- Jo Collins, American model
- Joan Collins, British actress
- Joe Collins (1922–1989), American baseball player
- John Collins, one of several people including:
- Canon John Collins, (1905–1982), UK radical Anglican cleric
- John Churton Collins (1848–1908), English literary critic
- John Collins (governor), (1776–1822), American manufacturer and Governor of Delaware.
- John Augustine Collins (1899–1989), Royal Australian Navy
- John Collins (American Football executive)
- John Collins (Australian musician) (Powderfinger)
- John Collins (Canadian musician), of The New Pornographers and The Smugglers
- John Collins (delegate) (1717–1795), Rhode Island delegate to Continental Congress
- John Collins (footballer born 1968), Scottish football player and manager
- John Collins (jazz guitarist)
- John Collins (mathematician) (1625–1683), English mathematician
- John Collins (musician/researcher)
- John Collins (poet) (1742–1808), English orator, singer, and poet
- John Collins (theater) (born c. 1969), American experimental theater director
- John Colins (UK businessman) (born 1941), former head of National Power
- John Collins (VC)
- John D. Collins, British actor, best known for his role as one of the British airmen in 'Allo 'Allo
- John F. Collins (1872–1962), Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island (1939–1941)
- John F. Collins (1919–1995), Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts (1960–1968)
- John H. Collins, American classical scholar
- John W. Collins, chess instructor
- Johnny Collins, British folk singer
- Joseph Collins (1866–1950), American neurologist
- Joseph Henry Collins, mining engineer and geologist
- Joseph Lawton Collins (1896–1987), American soldier
- Judith Collins, New Zealand politician
- Judson Dwight Collins (1823–1852), Methodist missionary to China
- Judy Collins, singer
- Justin Lee Collins, British comedian
K
L
- Larry Collins from the music group The Collins Kids
- Larry Collins (1929–2005), American writer
- Lauren Collins, Canadian actress
- Lawrence Collins, British judge
- J. Lawton Collins, American General
- Lee Collins (disambiguation), one of several people
- Leon Collins, American dancer
- LeRoy Collins, American politician
- Lewis Collins, British actor
- Lui Collins, American folk singer
- Lyn Collins, American singer
M
- Mabel Collins, writer on theosophy
- Mac Collins, American politician
- Marcus Collins, one of several people including:
- Maria Antonieta Collins, Mexican journalist
- Martha Layne Collins, Democratic Governor of Kentucky from 1983 to 1987
- Martin Collins, British broadcaster
- Marva Collins, American teacher
- Mary Collins (disambiguation)
- Mary Collins, Canadian politician
- Mary Cathleen Collins, American actress Bo Derek
- Matthew Collins (disambiguation)
- Matthew Collins, Welsh footballer
- Max Collins, American bassist
- Max Allan Collins, American writer
- Mel Collins, British musician
- Melissa Collins, Canadian water polo player
- Michael Collins, one of several people including:
- Michelle Collins, British actress
- Misha Collins, American actor
- Mo Collins, a comedienne from the Fox television variety show MADtv
- Mortimer Collins, British novelist
N
P
Q
R
- Randall Collins, American sociologist
- Randy Collins, Canadian politician
- Ray Collins (actor) (1889–1965), actor
- Richard A Collins, British scientist and author
- Ripper Collins, American baseball player
- Robin Collins, American philosopher
- Ronald Collins, one of several people including:
- Roy Collins (1934–2009), English cricketer
- Rudy Collins (born 1934), American drummer
- Rusty Collins, fictional character from X-Factor
S
- Sam Collins, English footballer
- Sam L. Collins, American politician
- Samuel Collins (disambiguation)
- Sandra Collins, American DJ
- Seward Collins, American publisher
- Shane Collins, one of several people
- Shano Collins, American baseball player
- Sherron Collins (born 1987), American basketball player
- Shirley Collins, British folk singer
- Shirley Collins, Canadian politician
- Stephen Collins (disambiguation)
- Stephen Collins, American actor
- Stephen Collins, Irish journalist
- Stephen Collins Foster, Father of American Country music
- Stephen Dando-Collins, Australian novelist
- Steve Collins, Irish boxer
- Steven Collins, Irish computer scientist
- Susan Collins, American politician
- Suzanne Collins, American writer
- Suzanne Marie Collins, American murder victim
T
W
- Warwick Collins (born 1948), British novelist
- Wesley Collins, fictional character from Power Rangers
- Wilkie Collins (1824–1889), Victorian era British writer
- William Collins, one of several people including:
- William Collins, British landscape painter, father of Wilkie Collins.
- William Collins, pre-Romantic English poet
- William Wiehe Collins, British 19th-century landscape artist and illustrator
- William Collins, founder of the 18th century Scottish publishing house Collins,
- His son, Sir William Collins -- a figure in the Scottish temperance movement and Glasgow's Lord Provost 1877–1880
- William "Bootsy" Collins, pioneering funk bassist, singer and songwriter from Cincinnati, Ohio
- Wilson Collins, American baseball outfielder
See also
References
- ^ Kimberly Powell, "COLLINS - Name Meaning & Origin", About.com: Genealogy (About.com), archived from the original on 7 July 2011, http://web.archive.org/web/20110707075006/http://genealogy.about.com/od/surname_meaning/p/collins.htm, retrieved 31 August 2011
- ^ Bradley Collins, "COLLINS FAMILY HISTORY: GENERAL INFORMATION: SURNAME HISTORY", Rootsweb (Ancestry.com), archived from the original on 25 March 2010, http://web.archive.org/web/20100325214645/http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bcollins/general/namehist.htm, retrieved 31 August 2011