[citation needed] The root of the name is the old Slavic word for fur, кърьзно, which can be transliterated as "kyrizno" or "kurizno" ("ъ" is the Slavic letter designating an ultra-short vowel, as for instance the "y" in "Katyusha").
[citation needed] Yiddish is a language lexically based to a large degree on German, and therefore a Yiddish-speaking Jew living in Ukraine or Poland could relate to the local word for furrier both through the local Slavic language, as through his mother tongue.
[citation needed] There are many variations of the Ukrainian name Kushnir from all over Central Europe.
In the west the name starts in Germany as Kuschner and variations of it run through the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary to Ukraine in the east and others.
The derivatives may include Kushnirenko, Kushnirchuk, Kushnirovych, Kushnirak, Kushnirov, Kushnariv, Kushnarev, Kushner, Cushner, Kusznir, Kusnir, Kuśnierz, Romanian Cușmir, and others.