[2] Its name is in honor of Brigadier General Leonard Covington of Maryland[3] and Mississippi, who died in the War of 1812.

The Alabama state legislature changed the name to Jones County on August 6, 1868.

[5] The county is located in the Gulf Coastal Plain region of the state.

28.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

As of 2012[update] the largest self-reported European ancestry group in Covington County is English with 41.2% of people in Covington County citing that they were of English descent.

They were followed by people who wrote that they were of "American" ancestry, who made up 16.0% of Covington county.

28.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Covington County is reliably Republican at the presidential level.

The last Democrat to win the county in a presidential election is Jimmy Carter, who won it by a majority in 1976.