Origin and popularity of the name MOTTE

Origin

Motte : 1: French Walloon and Flemish: topographic name from Old French motte ‘motte’ a word of Gaulish origin denoting a man-made protective mound surrounding a castle or other fortified stronghold; or a habitational name from any of the places in France and in Belgium named with this word. Compare Delamotte Demotte and Lamotte.2: English: variant of Mott 1.3: German: habitational name from a place called Motte in the Saarland or perhaps from Motten in Bavaria.

Lamotte : French and Walloon: topographic name for someone who lived by a motte (i.e. a protective mound surrounding a fortified stronghold) a variant of Motte 1 with the definite article la; or a habitational name from any of the places in France and in Belgium (Wallonia) named Lamotte or La Motte. This surname is also found in the Flemish part of Belgium. Compare Lamothe and Delamotte.

Moat : English: from Middle English mote ‘moat protective ditch’ (Old French mote motte ‘mound embankment’). The surname may be topographic for someone who lived at or by a moat or habitational from one of many minor places so named in England and Scotland. There has probably been some confusion with Mott.

Mota : 1: Spanish and Portuguese: topographic name for someone who lived by a fortified stronghold from mot(t)a a borrowing from Old French motte (see Motte 1).2: Spanish: habitational name from any of the places in the provinces of Cuenca and Valladolid named Mota.3: Catalan: topographic name from mota ‘hillock’ denoting someone who lived by a hillock.4: Catalan: habitational name from any of the places in Girona and Valencia.

Mott : 1: English: from the Middle English female personal name Motte a pet form of Matilda. There has probably been some confusion with Moat.2: German: topographic name for someone who lived by or owned property in a marshy area from Middle High German mot ‘mud swamp’.

Motto : 1: Italian: when not a masculinized form of Motta from a shortened pet form of a personal name ending in -mo such as Guglielmo Giacomo.2: Scottish: perhaps a habitational name from a lost place called with Middle English motte ‘fortified stronghold’ + ho(e) ‘ridge hill’.

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Last name frequency

Geographic distribution of the 321,125 individuals with the name MOTTE on Geneanet.

This last name in the family trees

See below the Geneanet members' family trees which contain the last name MOTTE