Family name origins & meanings
- Czech and Polish : from an altered form of the Greek personal name Kosmas (a derivative of Greek kosmos ‘order’, ‘universe’), borne by an early Christian saint martyred in Cilicia in ad 303 under the emperor Domitian, together with his brother Damian (see Damian).
- Jewish (Ashkenazic) : from the Jewish personal name Kosman, borrowed from German Christians.
- Jewish (Ashkenazic) : occupational name for someone who made glasses or cups, from Hebrew kos ‘drinking glass’ or Yiddish kos ‘goblet’, ‘cup’ + man ‘man’. See also Kos.