My last name is Cottrell can you give me some info on it?

Answer 1

"Today's generation of the Cottrell family bears a name that was brought to England by the wave of migration that was started by the Norman Conquest of 1066. Cottrell is a name for a "serf or bond tenant who held a cottage by service." The name is derived from the Old English "cote," which means "shelter," or "cottage."
Spelling variations include: Cotterell, Cotterel, Cotteral, Cotteril, Cotterill, Cottral, Cottrall, Cottrell, Cottrel, Coterall, Coterel, Coteril, Coterill, Cotrall, Cotrell, Cottrle, Cotral, Cotraul, Cotrelly and many more.

First found in Derbyshire where they were seated from very early times and were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Some of the first settlers of this name or some of its variants were: Edward Cotterell who settled in Virginia in 1635; John Cotterell settled in New England in 1655; Timothy Cotterill arrived in Boston in 1765; Edward Cotteral arrived in Pennsylvania in 1772."

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http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.fc/qx/cottrell-family-crest.htm

Hope this helps!

EDIT: By the way, your family name's crest is at the link above.

Answer 2

English, originally. It comes from the word for serf, meaning your ancestors were definitely NOT running the castle. The word was "cote," meaning cottage or shelter, and referred to someone who held a cottage by service, meaning they got to live there in return for working the land. They were tenants, not owners. A family by that name served Duke William when he came for the English throne, and were given lands then, but there's no mention anywhere of the family name having ever held a noble title.

There are quite a few different spellings for it, and most people who bore the name that immigrated were in the New England area, versus the Caribbean area.

There are at least two coats of arms for this name, though no coat is truly a "family" coat of arms. They are quite similar, leading me to believe that they originally come from the same family, and split at some point. However, I must point out, with what this name means, that quite a few people would have had this name. Many, over the years, might have changed it, because of the negative connotation, but of those that didn't, I doubt that more than the smallest handful actually received their own coat of arms. Thus, unless you can reliably trace your family tree back to one of these families, you don't, personally, have a coat of arms for this name.

Answer 3

It most likely comes from Cote an old English word for Cottage as in Dovecote and other place names. Surnames didn't exist in Anglo Saxon times and many only started after the Normans took power, many then took names from places they lived occupations nicknames anything that would distinguish them from others of a similar first names. Many British adopted continental Germanic names (such as Richard although they had an equivalent of many), biblical names etc and even Norman French words as with Boyce (Bois) for someone who lived near woods, so you cannot go too much by the names themselves. Names like now went in and out of fashion. Hope this helps

Answer 4

I work with a Cottrell, wonder if he knows?

It is French / English and refers to someone who lived in a cottage through feudal service rather than paying rents.

The following definitions of Cottrell and related names may help:

cottrell
French and English: status name for a cottager, from Old French coterel, a diminutive of cotier ‘cottager’ (see Cotter 2).


Cotter

English: status name from Middle English cotter, a technical term in the feudal system for a serf or bond tenant who held a cottage by service rather than rent, from Old English cot ‘cottage’, ‘hut’ (see Coates) + -er agent suffix.


Coates
English: status name for a cottager (see Cotter 2), or a topographic name for someone who lived in a relatively humble dwelling (from Middle English cotes, plural (or genitive) of cote, cott), or a habitational name from any of the numerous places named with this word, especially Coates in Cambridgeshire and Cotes in Leicestershire.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4

Answer 5

It would take some time for me to look up. Sounds french though.
Good luck.