The authors agree that this surname is of Greek-Byzantine origin and derives from the Greek κοσκινᾶς / coscinàs, a term that designated the craftsman dedicated to making or selling sieves and screens for sifting flour or cereals. It is, therefore, a surname of professional origin, arisen as a nickname of the trade.

G. Rohlfs notes that the surname is documented in the province of Catanzaro (Vibo area) and in the province of Reggio Calabria (Palmi area), with very frequent presence also in Sicily. He considers it a variant of Coscinà, to whose entry he refers, and warns that in Argentina it may lose the grave accent, appearing as Cuscina.

V. Blunda, for his part, places the surname in the Sicilian context and underlines its character as a professional nickname, noting that it designates specifically the craftsman who produced sieves for the sifting of cereals.