Gotts is a

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

which occurs in the UK originating around

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. There are about 800 bearers of the surname in England. Retrieved 21 January 2014 It now occurs in other parts of the world through migration. It is distinct from the similar name Gott, though there appear to be common sources around the 14th century. There are earlier occurrences of the name in 12th and 13th centuries, but no direct linkage has been established from these records to known holders of the name.

Etymology and history (pre 1538)

There are a small number of early records in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

which have been included in references on surname origins, though there are no known family trees showing any linkage back to these references. These references generally confuse the name Gott and Gotts/Gottes into single sources. Bardsley's Dictionary of English & Welsh surnames describes the name Gott as a locative name referring to a water channel or drain as per goyt. Earliest reference quoted is in 1379 in Yorkshire. Reaney's Dictionary of English Surnames suggests its origin as Gott, Gotts from the name Gotte, quoting references of Gotte filius Wulfrici 1188 in York, and Geoffrey Gottes in Norfolk 1348. The name Gocelin (pronounced Gotselin) is suggested as the origin with petforms Gosse and Got. In Yorkshire & Lincolnshire he suggests this could be Breton origin. A second origin is proposed as deriving from the Middle English words gotte, gut meaning gut, guts, a corpulent or greedy person. Hanks & Hodges Dictionary of Surnames propose it derives from Gott as Norman English & German, a shortform of Germanic compound names with the first element meaning God. Gotts would therefore be a patronymic of these. The name ‘Richard Gotts’ is inscribed on the font cover at St George’s church in South Acre in Norfolk. His will in 1535 shows him as Rector of South Lynn. A small number of wills for Gottes and Gotts in North Norfolk through the 1700s are contained in the Norfolk Register Office. It appears that the majority of people with the name Gott/Gotts were not wealthy enough to leave records in the typical sources for ownership of land and taxes. Given that surnames were not known to be in common use outside land owners prior to the 15th century the linkages from some of these references to modern families have not been substantiated.

Gotts Coat of Arms

A coat of arms was granted during the Visitation of the Heralds to Cambridge in 1585 and 1614 (as the applicant was living in Cambridge) and referenced in Fairbairn. One of the descendants Richard was admitted to the Inner Temple in London on 30 June 1578, however this line appears to have died out.

Notable people with the surname Gotts

* Jim Gotts (1917–1998), footballer for Ashington, Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion. * Kath Gotts, composer of the score for ''Bad Girls'' * Robbie Gotts (born 1999), English footballer

Fictional characters with the surname Gotts

* Eric Gotts, American comedy-drama television series ''Wonderfalls''

References

{{reflist

External links

Gotts Family History website
English-language surnames Surnames from given names