Hoskin Family History

English: from the Middle English personal name Osekin with prosthetic H- a pet form of Anglo-Norman French names beginning with Os- (particularly Osbert as well as Osbern and Osmund) + the Flemish diminutive suffix -kin. All three personal names were current in medieval Cornwall or Devon; see Osborne Osmond and Opie (a pet form of Osbert).

Old English Ōsbeorn Ōsbeohrt and Ōsmund may also have contributed in a minor way to Middle English usage; Middle English Oswald is another possible source but the name was very rare in the late 14th century.

For the excrescent initial H- compare Herrick.