The Family Name KOHUS 

The German family name Kohus is classified as being of habitation origin. Habitation names are those family names which are derived from either the location of the place of residence of the initial bearer or from the name of the town or village from whence he hailed. In some instances, a habitation name refers to a residence which was distinguished by a sign or engraving usually displayed over the door. In this particular instance, the name Kohus is composed of the Old High German “kuo”, in Low German “ko, kau” meaning “cow” and “hus” meaning “house”, denoting “one who lived by the cowhouse”. It is, however, also possible that this name is occupational in origin, denoting “one who took care of cows, a cowherd or a farmer.” Variants of the surname Kohus include Kohus, Kohues, Kohuss and Cohausen to name a few. 

One of the earliest references to this name or to a variant is a record of one Anna Kohuss, daughter of Johan and Trine Kohuss, who was christened in the church of Sankt Clemens, Telgte, Westphalia, in 1658. However, research is of course ongoing and this name may have been documented even earlier than the date indicted above. The baptism of Joannes Hermannus Kohus, son of Joannis Kohus and Maria Markenbeck, is registered in Sankt Pantaleon, Roxel, Westphalia, in 1731 and Joan Christopher Kohus and Catharina E. Wessendorf were married in Darfeld, Westphalia, in 1778. Onomastic research shows that fixed hereditary family names were first employed in southern Germany in the twelfth century. This practice of adopting a distinguishing name which was retained from one generation to the next gradually expanded to include all German speaking areas. It was however not until the sixteenth century that we can categorically say that the past majority of Germans bore a family name that had been borned by their father. The above was obtained from The Historical Research Center, 632 South Military trail, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442.

I have often wondered how the name Kohus or Kohues should be pronounced. I discussed this with an acquaintance of mine who was born in Germany and later moved to the U.S. He changed the spelling of his name after emigration because the American pronunciation of the German spelling did not accurately reflect the correct pronunciation. After dropping a few letters in his name the American pronunciation was closer to the sound of his name. This is what may have occurred with the Kohues/ Kohus name? I asked him how my name was pronounced in German. He told me that the “h” has a heavy sound., and sounds as close as I can describe it as Ko-huuze. Since all of my life I have told everyone as I have been told by my family that the "H” is silent and sounds like Kous. I speculate that at some time in the past, the name could have been intentionally mispronounced by our family with a silent “H,” to sound less German? Perhaps at one of the points in history when being of German descent in America was very unpopular such as after the failed German Revolt of 1848 when a heavy influx of Germans came to America, or during the times of WWI and WWII, when even streets containing German names were changed?

The above crest represents the town of Ostbevern Germany