Show ContentsBott History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The ancient Anglo-Saxon culture once found in Britain is the soil from which the many generations of the Bott family have grown. The name Bott was given to a member of the family who was a person with a striking physique.

Early Origins of the Bott family

The surname Bott was first found in Hampshire where they held a family seat from ancient times.

Early History of the Bott family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bott research. Another 135 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1296, 1597, 1688 and 1754 are included under the topic Early Bott History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bott Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Bott family name include Body, Boddy, Boddie, Bodie, Bode, Bodhy, Bodin, Bott, Botter, Bodds, Bods, Botty and many more.

Early Notables of the Bott family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

  • Thomas Bott (1688-1754), English divine, born at Derby in 1688. His father was a mercer

Bott Ranking

In the United States, the name Bott is the 6,099th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 1

Migration of the Bott family to Ireland

Some of the Bott family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


Bott migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Bott surname or a spelling variation of the name include :

Bott Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Jon Bott, who arrived in Virginia in 1653 2
Bott Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Thomas Bott, who landed in Virginia in 1724 2
  • Ursilla Bott, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1732 2
  • Joh Balthasar Bott, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1732 2
  • Johan Balser Bott, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1732 2
  • Joannes Bott, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1743 2
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Bott Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Weigant Bott, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1841 2
  • Mr. Wilh. Bott, German who arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1846 aboard the ship "Mercur"
  • John Bott, who landed in Mobile, Ala in 1846 2
  • Conrad Bott who arrived in Allegheny County in 1856
  • Phil Bott, who arrived in America in 1867 2

Bott migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Bott Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Miss Sarah Bott, British Convict who was convicted in Stafford, Staffordshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Earl Cornwallis" in August 1800, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 3
  • Mr. Thomas Bott, English convict who was convicted in Stafford, Staffordshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Asiatic" on 5th June 1819, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 4
  • Mr. Martin Bott, English convict who was convicted in York, Yorkshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Blenheim" on 11th March 1837, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5
  • Mr. Samuel Bott, English convict who was convicted in Knutsford (Nether Knutsford), Chester, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Barossa" on 9th May 1844, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 6
  • John Bott, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Isabella Watson" in 1846 7
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bott migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Bott Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • Mr. Thomas Bott, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Royal Albert" arriving in Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 6th March 1853 8
  • J. F. Bott, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Countess of Kintore" in 1873
  • M. Bott, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Countess of Kintore" in 1873
  • Mary A. Bott, aged 24, a tailoress, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Waimea" in 1876
  • William Henry Bott, aged 4, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Waimea" in 1876

Contemporary Notables of the name Bott (post 1700) +

  • Kevin Bott, American politician, Candidate for Mayor of Syracuse, New York, 2013 9
  • Charles Bott, American Republican politician, Candidate in primary for Montana State House of Representatives 47th District, 2010 9
  • Thomas Bott (1829-1870), English China painter, born near Kidderminster, and brought up to his father's business of making spade handles 10
  • Martin Harold Phillips Bott, English Emeritus Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at Durham University
  • François Bott (1935-2022), French journalist, literary critic and author, best known for his Une minute d’absence (2001) which won the Académie française's Prix de la Nouvelle
  • Nina Bott (b. 1978), German actress
  • Catherine Bott (b. 1952), British operatic soprano
  • Raoul Bott (1923-2005), Hungarian mathematician, co-winner of the 2000 Wolf Prize

RMS Titanic
  • Mr. William Thomas Bott (d. 1912), aged 44, English Greaser from Southampton, Hampshire who worked aboard the RMS Titanic and died in the sinking 11
USS Indianapolis
  • Wilbur Melvin Bott (1927-1945), American crew member on board the ship "USS Indianapolis" when she was on a top secret trip for the first nuclear weapon, she was sunk by Japanese Navy on 30th July 1945, he was one of the many who were killed in the sinking due to exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning and shark attacks 12


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. 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)
  3. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 13th August 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-cornwallis
  4. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 14th July 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/atlas
  5. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 15th October 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/blenheim
  6. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 24th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/barossa
  7. State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) ISABELLA WATSON 1846. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1846IsabellaWatson.htm
  8. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
  9. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 7) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
  10. Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 5 Feb. 2019
  11. Titanic Passenger List - Titanic Facts. (Retrieved 2016, July 13) . Retrieved from http://www.titanicfacts.net/titanic-passenger-list.html
  12. Final Crew List, retrieved 2021, October 30th Retrieved from https://www.ussindianapolis.com/final-crew


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