Stott
A northern English surname from a word for an ox, bullock, or horse, likely first used as a nickname or sign-name.
The #5,215 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 46,130 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Stott comes from a northern provincial word meaning an ox or bullock, and in some dialect uses could also refer more broadly to a horse or other farm animal. Earlier dictionaries connect it with Middle English and dialect forms such as stotte, and compare Old Norse and related Germanic words for a bullock or ox. As a surname, it was likely first applied as a nickname or as a sign-name for someone associated with that animal, strength, or farm life.
History
The name is especially northern in character, and historical sources treat it as a typical English dialect surname. It appears in medieval records, and later writers grouped it with other animal-based surnames such as Bull, Bullock, and Veale. The surname has remained relatively uncommon, though it is well established in Britain and in emigrant-descended populations abroad.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source specifically glossed STOTT as a northern provincial word for an ox.
From the historical record
“Stoddard, Stodart, q.v. STOTT (Eng.) a nickname and sign-name from the Stot, i.e. a Horse, Bullock, etc. [M.E. and Dial. E. and Scot. stot{te, a stallioi^, horse, bullock, ox : cp. O.N sltit-r, a bull (Swed. siut, a bullock, Dan.-Norw. stud, an ox] Thomas Stot.— Ifanc. 4sske-R?lls, A.D, 1262-3.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)