Otter Surname (original) (raw)

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Otter Surname

54,818th

Most Common

surname in the World

Approximately 9,281 people bear this surname

Otter Surname Definition:

Bapt 'the son of Ottur' (v. Yonge). (a) Nick, 'the otter.' Middle English oter. The former is evidently the chief parent of the surname, as will be seen below. Oter was a great Scandinavian personal name (v. Lower).

Edward Oter, Cambridgeshire, 1273.

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Otter Surname Distribution Map

• 2014
• 1901
• 1881
• 1880

The alternate forms: Ötter (32) are calculated separately.

Otter (114) may also be a first name.

Otter Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

Bapt 'the son of Ottur' (v. Yonge). (a) Nick, 'the otter.' Middle English oter. The former is evidently the chief parent of the surname, as will be seen below. Oter was a great Scandinavian personal name (v. Lower).

Edward Oter, Cambridgeshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Robert Oter, Suffolk, ibid.

Walter Oter, Oxfordshire, ibid.

Otuer de Insula, Henry III-Edward I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

Otverus de Insula, ibid.

Johannes Otour, spicer, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1766. Married — Robert Otter and Sarah Henslow: St. George, Hanover Square.

— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

From the common ON. personal name Ottarr. John Otir witnessed gift of land to the Hospital of Soltre, c. 1250-66 (Soltre, p. 32). Johannes Otyr, witness in Berwick, 1264 (Neubotle, p. 152), may be John Oter, merchant there, who had license to trade by land and sea for two years in 1291, and II 1296 rendered homage (Bain, II, p. 130,203). His seal shows two chevrons on a shield, a quarrel above, S' Johannis Otyr (ibid., p. 554). Gregor-Oder also rendered homage in 1296 (Macdonald, 2174). Simon Otyr, burgess of Crail, 1402 (Royal Hist. Soc. Trans., VI p. 330). Donald Otor was baron of Twlezettyll, 1548 (Athole, p. 714.)

— The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)

(Anglo-Scand.). The Old Norse Ottar(r for Otthar=Terrible Army [Old Norse ótti, terror, dread + -har, her-r, army] was Anglicized Ohter (‘A.-Sax. Chron.’, A.D. 911,918), Ohthere (‘Beówulf,’ 5857, etc.).

The modern Scandinavian forms are Ottar, Aattar, Otter, etc. Stöylen (‘Norske Döbenavne,’ p. 70) says that this name is often confused with the German Otto.

(Teutonic) 1 the O.Ger. Other = Prosperous Army [O.H.Ger. ót, prosperity + heri, army] 2 a nickname from the Otter [Middle English oter(e, Old English oter, ottor = Old Norse otr = Ger.

and Dutch otter] Walter Oter.—Hundred Rolls

— Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

(Norwegian, English) Dweller at the sign of the otter; descendant of Otthar (terrible, army); dweller at the Otter (otter stream), a river in England.

— Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

A Scandinavian personal name of great antiquity, and common application. It is variously spelt Otter, Ohter, Other, Othyr, Ottyr. Oter, and in Domesday book. Otre. In some one or other of these forms it occurs also in the Saxon Chronicle, the Annales Cambriae, and the Dublin Annals. A lately-decyphered inscription on a cross in the isle of Man reads-"Otr raised this cross to Fruki, his father." As a family name, it has existed from time immemorial in the "Danish" or Northman counties of East Yorkshire. Nottingham, Lincoln and Derby, where there is almost a elan of Otters, though the name is rarely to be met with in other counties, and scarcely appears at all in the metropolis. Walter Fitz-Other, the celebrated castellan of Windsor, temp. William I., the reputed ancestor of the Fitzgeralds. Gerards. Windsors. and other great houses, was the son of Otherus. a great landowner under the Confessor, but whether the latter was of Norse descent does not appear: there is, however, something like armorial evidence of the connection of the Otters with the families alluded to. Ingram, in his translation of the Saxon Chronicle, says that Otter was "originally 'oht-here or ' ocht-here,' i.e. Terror of an Army."

— Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

Local. Oitir, Gaelic, a low promontory jutting into the sea, a shoal.

— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857) by William Arthur

Same as the well-known Scandivanian name Ottar, which Ferguson renders fear-inspiring. The name is also found written Ohter, Other, Othyr, Ottyr, Oter, and, in Domesday, Otre. "Walter Fitz-Other (says Lower), the celebrated castellan of Windsor, temp. William I., the reputed ancestor of the Fitz-Geralds, Gerards, Windsors, and other great houses, was the son of Otherus, a great landowner under the Confessor. Ingram, in his translation of the Saxon Chronicle, says Otter was originally oht-here or ocht here, i. e. terror of an army."

— Ludus Patronymicus (1868) by Richard Stephen Charnock

Otter Demographics

Otter Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Otter Come From? nationality or country of origin

The last name Otter (Arabic: اوتر, Russian: Оттер) occurs most in The Netherlands. It may also appear in the variant forms: Ötter. For other possible spellings of this surname click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Otter? popularity and diffusion

The surname is the 54,818th most prevalent surname in the world, held by around 1 in 785,211 people. The last name Otter occurs predominantly in Europe, where 69 percent of Otter are found; 50 percent are found in Western Europe and 46 percent are found in Germanic Europe. Otter is also the 877,214th most numerous first name globally It is held by 114 people.

The last name Otter is most prevalent in The Netherlands, where it is held by 1,932 people, or 1 in 8,741. In The Netherlands it is most common in: Friesland, where 20 percent live, Overijssel, where 20 percent live and North Holland, where 13 percent live. Not including The Netherlands it exists in 55 countries. It is also found in The United States, where 19 percent live and Germany, where 17 percent live.

Otter Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The incidence of Otter has changed through the years. In The United States the share of the population with the last name increased 587 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it increased 184 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Scotland it increased 450 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it decreased 50 percent between 1901 and 2014.

Otter Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those bearing the surname is primarily Anglican (50%) in Ireland.

In The United States those bearing the Otter surname are 25.02% more likely to be registered Republicans than The US average, with 71.79% registered with the political party.

The amount Otter earn in different countries varies markedly. In Norway they earn 16.5% more than the national average, earning 403,197 kr per year; in South Africa they earn 22.7% less than the national average, earning R 183,684 per year; in United States they earn 6.55% more than the national average, earning 45,975USDperyearandinCanadatheyearn0.2245,975 USD per year and in Canada they earn 0.22% more than the national average, earning 45,975USDperyearandinCanadatheyearn0.2249,792 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Otter Name Transliterations

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Footnotes

• Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
• Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
• Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
• Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
• Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
• Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
• Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Otter
• To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis