Dictionary of Family Names

COFFIN.   Cyffin, in Welsh, signifies a boundary, a limit, a hill; cefyn, the ridge of a hill.  This name has its origin from co, high, exalted, and fin, a head, extremity, boundary.  This family settled early in this country, on the island of Nantucket, near Cape Cod, where the name is very common.  The following humorous lines, descriptive of the characteristics of the different families residing on that island, were written by one Daniel Allen, a native of the island, more than a hundred years ago:

"The hasty COFFIN, fractious, loud,
The silent Gardiner, plotting,
The Mitchells good, the Barkers proud,
The Macys eat the pudding;
The Rays and Russels coopers are,
The knowing Folger lazy,
A learned Coleman very rare,
And scarce an honest Hussey."