Cockshott Family History

From Middle English cokshote cokshete cokshute meaning ‘place where woodcocks dart’, nets were stretched in such locations to catch the birds for the food table. The surname may have belonged to someone who trapped woodcocks for the lord of the manor.

Cockshutt, Cockshoot, and other variations appear as minor place-names and field names in many counties. However, the modern surname is primarily derived from Lancashire.

According to McKinley, an early bearer of the surname is recorded at Ightenhill, near Padiham (Lancs) in the 14th century. The Lancashire surname probably migrated to the Skipton area of West Riding Yorkshire by the 16th century.

Reference: Redmonds Dictionary of Yorks Surnames.

It is sometimes pronounced Coeshot.