Cotter is a surname that originates in England and Ireland. It can also be an Anglicization, chiefly in North America, of a similar-sounding German surname.
The surname Cotter has several different origins.
The English surname is a status name. This name is made up of the Old English elements 'cot' "cottage", "hut" and the suffix er. In the feudal system a cotter held a cottage by service (rather than by rent). Reaney gives the surname deriving from the Old French cotier "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 Gaelic Mac Oitir . The personal name Oitir is the Gaelic form of the Old Norse Óttarr. 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, or related surnames include: Coates , [5] Cottier , [6] Kotter. [4] Cotter can be rendered into the Irish language as Mac Coitir and Mac Oitir.
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]
Cooke is a surname of English and Irish origin derived from the occupation of cook and anglicisation of various Gaelic names. Variants include Cook and McCook.
The surname Ray has several origins.
Cottier is a surname. It is of English origin, but can also be an Americanized form of a French and Swiss surname.
Crotty are anglicisations of the Irish name Ó Crotaigh – ‘Descendant of Crotach’. The name dates from medieval times, to the pre-Norman kingdom of Thomond where the Dál gCais clan, centred on the regional rulers – the Uí Briain (O'Brien) family – were dominant. The Crottys were one of eight septs of the O’Briens. They settled in western County Waterford and eastern County Cork.
Barry is both a given name and an Irish and West African surname. The given name can be an Anglicised form of some Irish personal names or shortened form of Barrington or Finbarr, while the surname has numerous etymological origins, and is derived from both place names and personal names.
McNally is an Irish surname originating in County Tyrone, in the province of Ulster. It is the Anglicized form of Mac Conallaidh 'son of Cú Allaidh', a Gaelic name of the Cenél nEógain clan meaning the 'wild hound', i.e. 'wolf'.
The surname Ford has several origins. In some cases it originated as a name for someone who lived near a ford, and is therefore derived from the Old English and Middle English ford. In some cases, the surname is derived from places named Ford. Examples of such places include Ford in Northumberland, a place in Somerset, Ford in Shropshire, Ford in West Sussex, and Forde in Dorset.
The surname Scannell is both an ancient Irish name and a clan who were a sept of the Eóganachta. The name derives from the Irish word scannal, originally meaning quarrel, contention, fight, or dispute.
The Cotter family of Ireland was a Norse-Gaelic family associated with County Cork and ancient Cork city. The family was also associated with the Isle of Man and the Hebrides.
Ó an Cháintighe, an Irish Bardic family of west Cork. The medieval poet Fear Feasa Ó'n Cháinte was the composer of the following poems:
Mac Amhlaoibh and Mac Amhalghaidh are two different Gaelic patronymic names with different origins and meanings, but which share the same or similar Anglicisations. These Gaelic names are borne by at least three unrelated native Irish clans or septs.
Earl Ottir, also known as Ottir the Black, was a jarl who occupied a prominent position among the Norse of Britain and Ireland in the early 10th century. He is believed to be the founder of the settlement, Veðrafjǫrðr in the year 914. From 917 to his death in 918 Ottir was a close associate of the powerful overking Ragnall ua Ímair, although they are not known to have been related.
Óttar of Dublin, in Irish Oitir Mac mic Oitir, was a Hiberno-Norse King of Dublin, reigning in 1142–1148. Alternative names used in modern scholarship include Óttar of the Isles and Óttar Óttarsson.
Máel Ísu Mac in Baird was a Bishop of Clonfert.
Máel Brigte Ua hEruráin, Bishop of Clonfert, elected 1205.
Tomás Ó Cellaigh was a Catholic Bishop of Clonfert. His death is recorded as 6 January 1263. O Cellaigh was elected to that position sometime prior to 7 November 1259, as he received possession of temporalities commencing on that date.
Muiredach Ua hÉnlainge was a Bishop of Clonfert who died in 1117.
Ruaidhri Mac Aedha, Lord of Clann Cosgraigh, died 1170.
Mac Coitir and Mac Oitir are masculine surnames in the Irish language. The names translate into English as "son of Oitir". These surnames originated as a patronyms, however they no longer refers to the actual name of the bearer's father. There are specific forms of these surnames that are borne by married and unmarried females. There are numerous Anglicised forms of these surnames.
Ó Ciardha, modern spelling Ó Ciara: Anglicised Carey, Keary, Kearey, Carry, O Carry. Mainly a midland (Leinster) surname. One major sept of Ó Ciardha was that of Carbury in modern County Kildare, which receives very early mention in the Irish Annals, such as the Annals of Ulster in 954 AD, 'ua Ciardai, ri Cairpri', i.e. O Carey, king of Carbury, and the Annals of Tigernach in 993 AD.