The English surname is a status name. This name is made up of the
Old English elements 'cot' "cottage", "hut" and the
suffixer. In the
feudal system a cotter held a cottage by service (rather than by rent). Reaney gives the surname deriving from the
Old Frenchcotier "cottager" (see:
villein). Early bearers of the English surname are Robert le Robert le Cotier in 1198; and William le Coter(e) in 1270 and 1297.[1]
The Irish name is a reduced
anglicised form of the
GaelicMac Oitir. The
personal nameOitir is the Gaelic form of the
Old NorseÓttarr. The Old Norse name is made up of the elements ótti "fear", "dread" and herr "army". An early Irish record of the name occurs in 1142, when Mac Mic Ottir .i. Ottir ("the son of Mac Ottir, i.e. Ottir") from the
Hebrides, is recorded to have assumed the
Kingship of Dublin.[2][3] For the origins of the noble Irish family claiming descent from this king see: Cotter family. Although unprovable, it is possible that both he and they are descendants of the famous
Ohthere of Hålogaland, a great
Norwegian adventurer who appears to have gone to Ireland. He is possibly the
Ottir Iarla or Earl Ottir mentioned in the Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib, or at least related to him.
The surname can in some cases, mostly in the US and Canada, be an
Americanization of the German surname Kotter.[4]
Similar surnames
Similar, or related surnames include: Coates,[5]Cottier,[6]Kotter.[4]Cotter can be rendered into the Irish language as Mac Coitir and Mac Oitir.
Distribution
According to
MacLysaght who wrote in the mid 20th century, the Irish surname of Cotter was peculiar to
County Cork. There are at least eight place names in County Cork which incorporate the surname (for example: Ballymacotters near
Cloyne).[7]
List of persons with the surname
Andrew Cotter (born 1973), Scottish sports broadcaster
Bill Cotter (born 1943), former Irish Fine Gael politician
^Reaney, Percy Hilde; Wilson, Richard Middlewood (2006). A Dictionary of English Surnames (
pdf) (3rd ed.). London: Routledge. p. 758.
ISBN0-203-99355-1.
This page lists people with the
surnameCotter. If an
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