Family name origins & meanings
- French (northern and southwestern) : from an Old French personal name, Alcuin, of Germanic origin, composed of the elements alh ‘temple’ and win ‘friend’. This name was borne by a famous English scholar and theologian (c. 735–804), an influential figure at the court of Charlemagne. The surname has been assimilated by folk etymology to the French phrase au coin ‘at the corner’.
- French (northern and southwestern) : topographic name for someone who lived au coin ‘on the corner (of a street)’ or ‘in a corner (of land)’.