We report surface vibrations in c(2 × 2) oxygen adlayers on Ni and Co thin films on a Cu(001) substrate measured at \\ ̄ gG by high resolution EELS. For the Ni thin film surface, one phonon peak is measured for varying film thicknesses from 1.3 ML (monolayer) to 6 ML with a constant energy of 221 cm −1. For the Co thin film surface, three loss peaks are found, whose relative intensities change as the film thicknesses are varied. One loss peak at ~520 cm −1 is tentatively assigned to the Fuchs-Kliewer mode of cobalt oxide (CoO). The other two peaks at 317 and 376 cm −1 are likely related to different bonding sites. Surface phonons on the p(2 × 2) Co thin film (389 cm −1) and a bulk resonance mode (115 cm −1) are also reported.