Notes on Covert Surname

Based on usage of the family in New Amsterdam & New York, the surname Covert appears to be derived from Ceovorden, or Koevorde, a fortified town in the Province of Drenthe, Holland.
According to the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record (see Covert Family History, NY G&B Record), regarding the name in early New York and New Jersey families:

"The derivation of the surname Covert seems to be uncertain; and four Dutchmen (familiar with the origin of names) have furnished no solution. Possibly it came from Coevorden, or Koevorde, a fortified town in the Province of Drenthe, Holland, 23 miles SSE of AAsen. This town-name form has not been seen in connection with Theunis', whose surname is variably recorded as Coevors, Coevers, Converts, Etc; but has been seen in two instances connected with his alleged children. These are:

• (a) in the record of marriage of Aeltje, where she appears as "Aeltje Theunis Van Couverden".[N.Y. Du. Ch. Rec - NYG&B Soc. Coll., 1890, p. 45]; and
• (b) in Snell's Hist. of Hunterdon and Somerset Cos., NJ, p. 561, and Messler's Hist. of Somerset Co., p.34, where the authors say that among the heads of families who came from Long Island to New Jersey was "Jan Hans Coeverden."
  The next nearest form is in the deed from "Abraham Covert" to his brother "Isaac Coverd." In olden times, spelling was very variable."

From Somerset County Genealogical Quarterly; Vol 8; No. 3; September 1991 (See source [W1] below: TEUNIS JANSZEN, the progenitor of the COVERT family of America, did not assume a surname designating his European origins. According to his own testimony, he came to America in 1651. It was not until 10 years later that he began using the last name Coevors."

The research on this family, as it has come to us, indicates that the earliest known ancestor was possibly a Frenchman, Pierre Couvert. The French word "couvert" today means "cover" or "shelter"; as a surname this could refer to some aspect of the family residence. It is speculated that the family were French Huguenots, taking refuge in Holland. (See Source #3, Bassett's Notes on Coverts, ed. by Leslie A. Bryan 1957; copy at MN Hist. Soc. Library, St. Paul MN, on the page of Teunis Janszentje Covert).

Return to Pierre Couvert, Jans Pietersen Couvert, Teunis Janszentje Covert, Hans Teunise Covert, or Bragon Covert