# The given name "Cotton". **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 11, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923 "2008-03-11T02:56:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/1 "2008-03-11T02:56:34Z")
I’m 63, and I’ve known two Cottons in my lifetime. And I grew up in Bakersfield, CA, a pretty countryfied town at the time. Then I just bought a guitar from a man named Cotton. My question is, where did such a name come from? And have you ever known a Cotton? Personally, I like the name. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/2 "2008-03-11T03:00:58Z")
Cotton Mather? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/3 "2008-03-11T03:01:10Z")
The most famous one in American history is [Cotton Mather](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Mather). He was named for his grandfather, John Cotton. Giving sons last names as first names has been a common practice in American history. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/4 "2008-03-11T03:04:02Z")
Cotton is the name of Hank Hill’s dad on King of the Hill. ---
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/5 "2008-03-11T03:14:56Z")
My childhood cat was named Cotton…because she was all white. Not sure why people are given it though. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/6 "2008-03-11T04:39:30Z")
Where did your name come from, Cotton I. Joe? ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/7 "2008-03-11T04:44:05Z")
I lived with a guy in college who had the last name Cotton. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/8 "2008-03-11T04:46:04Z")
One of my grade-school friend’s father’s name was Cotton. This was in Orange County, California. It was not a nickname. Being a little kid, I didn’t really see the name as stranger than any other. When I lived in Oklahoma there was a real estate agent (or maybe an insurance agent) with this name who had signs up everywhere. Didn’t know the guy personally. So that’s two I’ve heard of, along with the famous Cotton Mather. ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/9 "2008-03-11T05:16:52Z")
At one time I was actually thinking of using Cotton as my son’s middle name. I have heard it as a nickname. There was Lowell “Cotton” Fitzsimmons who was an NBA coach and in the movie “Dodgeball” there was a sports announcer named Cotton McKnight. It’s origin, according to [this baby name website](http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Cotton): > [@](#): > > The boy’s name Cotton \c(ot)-ton. Plant name. May originally have been an occupational name from England, though the cotton plant, requiring a warm climate, was never a big source of industry in Britain. In the US, great Massachusetts clergyman Cotton Mather’s writings contributed to the Salem witch trials. He was named for his grandfather, early American clergyman John Cotton. Actor Joseph Cotten. > > Cotton has 1 variant form: Cotten. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/10 "2008-03-11T05:51:48Z")
_The Little Rascals_. **Stymie** ’s little brothers were **Farina** and **Cotton**. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo\_Pin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mojo\_Pin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo_Pin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/11 "2008-03-11T08:27:09Z")
Cotton at least is a noun–look at Cotton Mather’s father’s name!!! Increase!!! That ought to have made for some awkward sentences: “Mother, father, I want to marry Increase” “Sure honey, thats a great place, great salad there and everything, but shouldn’t you decide WHO first?” ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/12 "2008-03-11T08:56:35Z")
Cotton is also a nickname given to people who have very, very pale blonde hair. You know, they kind that looks white, like cotton? Most people’s hair darkens with age, but I’ve known someone who had hair that pale as a child. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/13 "2008-03-11T10:01:34Z")
In Cotton Mather’s case, the name was a surname turned into a Christian name. He was named for his grandfather John Cotton. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/14 "2008-03-11T11:04:41Z")
[QUOTE=cmkeller] Where did your name come from, Cotton I. Joe? [/QUOTE] [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5212838&postcount=25](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5212838&postcount=25) ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/15 "2008-03-11T12:34:37Z")
[QUOTE=Zabali\_Clawbane] Cotton is also a nickname given to people who have very, very pale blonde hair. You know, they kind that looks white, like cotton? [/QUOTE] This would be the case with Mary Vivian Pearce’s characters Cotton in _Pink Flamingos_. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/16 "2008-03-11T12:55:54Z")
Cotton Hawes is a detective in the Ed McBain 87th Precient mysteries. He was named after the preacher, has a red hair with a white stripe where he was once knifed and the hair was shaved and grew back white. “Shows how scared I was.” ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/17 "2008-03-11T13:14:56Z")
My dad’s nickname was “Cotton” because he had really pale blonde hair and also due to his having horrible ear infections that caused him to have to put cotton in his ears during the winter months to try and keep them down. For the longest time when I was a kid I thought that was his name! ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/18 "2008-03-11T13:17:22Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Cotton Hawes is a detective in the Ed McBain 87th Precient mysteries. He was named after the preacher, has a red hair with a white stripe where he was once knifed and the hair was shaved and grew back white. “Shows how scared I was.” [/QUOTE] Is that what happened with Bonnie Rait, who’s cool bluesy stylings I do love. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/19 "2008-03-11T15:43:38Z")
[Cotton Smith](http://www.cottonsmithbooks.com/Welcome.htm) is the president of the Western Writers of America. You also have a funny reversal of history in a 19th century governor of Connecticut. [John Cotton Smith](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cotton_Smith) was the son of Cotton Mather Smith. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923/20 "2008-03-11T15:56:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Cotton Mather? Cotton Mather’s father was **Increase Mather**. Styles in names have definitely changed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-given-name-cotton/440923.md?page=2)