Cot History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

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

Early Origins of the Cot family

The surname Cot 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 Cot family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cot 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 Cot History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cot Spelling Variations

Changes of spelling have occurred in most surnames. The earliest explanation is that during the early development of the French language, names were not yet fixed in spelling. Usually a person gave his version of his name, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. This depended on accent, and local accents frequently changed the spelling of a name. Some variables were adopted by different branches of the family name. Hence, there are some spelling variations of the name Cot, including 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 Cot 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 Co...

Cot Ranking

In France, the name Cot is the 9,429^th most popular surname with an estimated 500 - 1,000 people with that name. 2

Cot 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 Cot 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 Cot were

Cot Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Ramon Cot, who landed in Charleston, South Carolina in 1803 3
Ant Jose Cot, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 3
John Cot, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Cot (post 1700) +

Guan Y. Cot, American politician, Member of California State Assembly 6th District, 1862-63 4
Alfred G. Cot, American Republican politician, Postmaster at Middletown, Delaware, 1890-94 4
Brigadier-General Charles Cot (1881-1945), French Commanding Officer during World War II 5
Pierre Cot, engineer of bridges and roads in Paris
Jean-Pierre Cot, ancient deputy, ancient minister, and European parliamentary who lives in Montmélian, France

Citations +

Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 12) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2011, October 3) Charles Cot. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Cot/Charles-Gustave-Eug%C3%A8ne-Louis/France.html