Family name origins & meanings
- French (Côte) : topographic name for someone who lived on a slope or riverbank, less often on the coast, from Old French coste (Latin costa ‘rib’, ‘side’, ‘flank’, also used in a transferred topographical sense). There are several places in France named with this word, and the surname may also be a habitational name from any of these.
- English : topographic name from Middle English cote, cott ‘shelter’, ‘cottage’ (see Coates).