Couch (surname)

Couch is a surname. "Couch" has two different origins: it is a Cornish name thought to have derived from Cornish "cough" (red) and to have been a nickname for a redheaded man (the usual Cornish pronunciation is "cooch"); there is also an English name Couch which probably originated as a name for a maker of beds or bedding.^[1] The English name Couch has the variant forms Coucha, Couche, Coucher, Couchman and Cowcha.^[2]

Notable people with the surname include:

• Arthur Quiller-Couch, British writer and professor of literature, grandson of Jonathan Couch
• Charles Couch (1833-1911), American politician
• Darius Nash Couch, American soldier, businessman, and naturalist
• Ethan Couch, North Texas teenager convicted of killing four pedestrians
• Harvey C. Couch, Arkansas energy entrepreneur and businessman
• Jane Couch, British woman boxer
• John H. Couch, American sea captain and pioneer in the Oregon Country in the 19th century
• Jonathan Couch, British naturalist
• Mal Couch (1938–2013), American Christian writer
• Richard Quiller Couch, British naturalist, son of Jonathan Couch
• Tim Couch, former NFL quarterback
• Tonia Couch, British Olympic diver
• Warrick Couch, Australian astronomer

See also

• Couch's Mill, a hamlet in Cornwall

References

1. Patrick Hanks et al. (2002). The Oxford Names Companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860561-7; p. 144
2. Hanks (2002), p. 144