A Welsh and English surname, Cotton comes from the Welsh term ‘cwthen’ which refers to an old house or dwelling and the Old English term ‘cotum’ means a cottage. The spelling variations for Cotton include Cottom, Coatham, Cotten, Kuttune, Coten, Kotton, Kotun, Cottaune, Cottain, Coton and Cottam. In England the beginnings of the Cotton surname and its various forms started in Huntingdon. The spelling of the surname Cotton can vary in different locations. In Durham to the north it may be spelled Coatham. In Cambridgeshire in the east-central region it is spelled Coton. The Cotton surname covers most of England and Wales. The greater populations live in Yorkshire, Lancashire, the city of London, Staffordshire and Hampshire. In Scotland the counties with the greater Cotton population are Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Fife, Midlothian, Stirlingshire and Aberdeenshire. Within the United States the Cotton families settled early in Massachusetts, Virginia, Maine Connecticut, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, Kentucky and New York. Famous: Henry Thomas Cotton (professional golfer and champion in England), William Edward “Billy” Cotton (musician and bandleader in England), Joseph Cheshire Cotton (movie film and theatre actor), James Cotton (professional basketball player), Antony Cotton (English actor), Will Cotton (artist), Charles Cotton (17th century English poet and writer) and Paul Cotton (musician – guitar).