Family name origins & meanings
- Possibly a respelling of German Körnig, a nickname for a strong person, from körnig ‘robust’, ‘solid’, or from Korney, a variant of Cornelius.
- An early bearer of the name was Ensign Samuel Corning, who emigrated from England to Beverly, MA, in 1641. Erastus Corning (1794–1872) moved in 1814 from CT to Albany, NY, where he became a wealthy iron manufacturer and railroad businessman.