Kosiada

This unusual surname, recorded in German Church Registers from the early 19th Century under the variant spellings Kosseda and Kosieda, is ultimately believed to be of Polish origin, and has two distinct possible sources. Firstly, Kosiada may belong to that sizeable group of early European surnames that were gradually created from the habitual se of nicknames. These nicknames were originally given with reference to a variety of personal characteristics, such as physical attributes or peculiarities, mental and moral characteristics, and supposed resemblance to an animal's or bird's appearance or disposition. The root word, in this instance, is the Polish "kos", blackbird, of which Kosiada is a derivative, and was used to denote someone who bore a fancied resemblance to the bird, or perhaps a smart or devious person. Alternatively, Kosiada may be occupational in origin for a mower, specifically one who cut grass with a scythe, from a derivative of "kosiarz", mower, haymaker. On September 4th 1847, Matheus Johanes, son of Joseph Kosieda and Eva Kruth, was christened at the Katholische Kirche, Gross Konarczyn, Westpreussen PR., Germany, and on May 28th 1849, Anton Kosieda, son of Johann Kosieda and Caroline Lenz, was christened in the same place. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Peter Kosseda, which was dated July 24th 1836, witness at the christening of his daughter, Berta, at Sankt Jakobi, Stettin Stadt, Pommern, Germany, during the reign of Ferdinand, son of Francis 11 of Germany, 1835 - 1848. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.