Collins (surname)

The surname Collins has a variety of likely origins in Britain and Ireland:

  1. Anglo-Saxon: A patronymic surname based on the name Colin, an English diminutive form of Nicholas.
  2. Norse: From the Old Norse personal name "Kollungr" a form of "koli" which in Old English became 'Cola', meaning swarthy or dark.
  3. Irish: The medieval surname was Ua Cuiléin, which has usually become Ó Coileáin today.
  4. Welsh: Collen; hazel, hazel grove.

Alternative spellings or related surnames include Collin, Colling, Coling, Collings, Colings, Collis, Coliss, Collen, and Collens.[1] A great number of Welsh origin surnames share a similar etymology to English ones - Where in English names the forename of the patriarch is suffixed with 'SON' (as in Peterson, Richardson, Johnson) in Welsh names the 'SON' is simply the letter "S" (Phillips, Davies, Davis, Williams) and Collins may have been one of the surnames to have originated in this way.

The Domesday Book (compiled in 1086) was the first to document names in England and Wales and at this time only the upper classes were literate. During the time between this and the first census of 1801 names continually changed due to the illiterate nature of the British population. Indeed, the need to be able to complete such documents may be a key factor in the change to fixed spellings.

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 is a genuinely indigenous Irish name; in fact, it is one of the most numerous surnames, ranked number 30.[2]

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Fictional characters
  • Barnabas Collins, fictional vampire from Dark Shadows
  • David Collins (Dark Shadows), fictional character from Dark Shadows
  • David Collins (EastEnders), fictional character from EastEnders
  • Gordon Collins (Brookside), fictional character from British soap opera Brookside
  • Molly Collins, fictional character from The Amazing World of Gumball
  • Jeremiah Collins, fictional character from Dark Shadows
  • Quentin Collins, fictional werewolf from Dark Shadows
  • Rusty Collins, fictional character from X-Factor comics
  • Tom Collins (Rent character), character in the rock musical Rent
  • Victor Collins (General Hospital), a fictional character in the U.S. TV soap opera General Hospital
  • Wesley Collins, fictional character from Power Rangers Time Force
  • William Collins (Pride and Prejudice), character in the Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice

See also
  • Collins (disambiguation)
  • Collins class submarine, six Australian-built diesel-electric submarines used in the Royal Australian Navy
  • Collins English Dictionary, printed and online English Dictionary
  • The Collins Bird Guide, field guide to the birds of the Western Palearctic
  • The Collins College of Hospitality Management, part of the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
  • The Collins Companies, American forest products company
  • The Collins Kids, American rockabilly duo
  • Sam Collins Day, local holiday in parts of Connecticut
  • Tom Collins, cocktail
  • William Collins, Sons, Scottish printing company
  • William Collins (imprint), a non-fiction publishing brand launched by HarperCollins in 2014

References
  1. Kimberly Powell, "COLLINS - Name Meaning & Origin", About.com: Genealogy, About.com, archived from the original on 7 July 2011, retrieved 31 August 2011
  2. Bradley Collins, "COLLINS FAMILY HISTORY: GENERAL INFORMATION: SURNAME HISTORY", Rootsweb, Ancestry.com, archived from the original on 25 March 2010, retrieved 31 August 2011
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