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The otter Surname

otter Name Meaning and History

  1. English, German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for an otter hunter, or nickname for someone supposedly resembling an otter, from Middle English, Middle High German oter, Middle Dutch otter, German Otter ‘otter’. The Jewish surname can be ornamental.
  2. English: from the late Old English personal name Ohthere, a borrowing of Old Norse Óttar, composed of the elements ótti ‘fear’, ‘dread’ + herr ‘army’. In Scotland the Old Norse name is the source.
  3. French: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements aud, od ‘wealth’ + hari, heri ‘army’.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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The otter name in History

A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the otter family name as far back in history as possible.

otter Family Facts

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Distribution of otter Families in the US in 1920
Number of otter families
 17-32
 6-16		 1-5
 0
Compiled by Ancestry.com from the 1920 US Federal Census records

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Year

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  • You can decide where (in which states) to start searching for otter records.
  • You can see how otter families moved over time by selecting different Census years.

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The information for this map came from Ancestry.com’s US Federal Census Collection.
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