Show ContentsCotta History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Cotta name comes from that Medieval landscape of southern France known as Languedoc. The name Cotta was originally derived from the family having lived in Languedoc, where the family was found since the early Middle Ages.

Early Origins of the Cotta family

The surname Cotta was first found in Languedoc, where they are recorded as one of the distinguished ancient families of that region.

The Cot or Côté family were well educated and learned people and there are many instances in the records of this. The Les Cot family of Limoges developed one of the first printing methods, with hot lead type, which they took to Paris in the 1600's. Pierre was an author of a book on the origins of printing in 1707.

Jean Pierre Cote, a noted poet, was born in Briancon in 1810. Jean-Leopold left on his death a "Dictionnaire de la législation des états sardes" in 1841. Jean André de Cot, descended from the Tournon branch of the family and, born in Briancon in 1789, campaigned against the war of the Empire, and his son Alexis was the owner of the "Journal de Tournon".

Jean Côté settled in Quebec in 1634 and married Anne Martin on 17th November 1635. Together they had five sons that carried on the family name of Côté. Jean was buried in Quebec on 28th March 1661. [1]

Early History of the Cotta family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cotta research. Another 175 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1472, 1530, 1532, 1539, 1540, 1543, 1549, 1564, 1575, 1589, 1595, 1604, 1613, 1626, 1656, 1681 and 1735 are included under the topic Early Cotta History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cotta Spelling Variations

One can encounter great variation in the spelling of French surnames; in part, as spelling, and the spelling names was not yet standardized during the early development of the written French language. Later, there was much branching and movement of families, and spellings would change according to region. Variations of the name Cotta include Côté, Cot, Cotte, Cott, Kott, Kote, Cotée, Cotet, Cotin, Coton, Cottet, Cottin, Cotton, Cotard, Cottard, Lacotte, Cotté, Cottu, Cottarel, Cottebrune, Cotner, Cottez and many more.

Early Notables of the Cotta family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Claude Cot, Treasurer of Dauphiné in 1472; Pierre Coton (1564-1626), a French Jesuit and royal confessor; Charles Cotin or Abbé Cotin (1604-1681), a French abbé, philosopher and poet; and Robert de Cotte (1656-1735), a French architect-administrator.Gaspard Coste, chorister in the cathedral of Avignon about...
Another 53 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cotta Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cotta Ranking

In the United States, the name Cotta is the 16,591st most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. [2]


United States Cotta migration to the United States +

In 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec. Migration was slow. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the French Acadian presence in the Maritimes had reached 500. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The family name Cotta has made many distinguished contributions in France and New France to the world of science, culture, religion, and education. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Cotta were

Cotta Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Robert Cotta, who arrived in Salem, Massachusetts in 1635 [3]


  1. Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print
  2. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  3. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


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