Heathcote is a surname rooted in English topography which literally means "Heath Cottage". The location in Derbyshire was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Hedcote", and as "Hethcote" in 1244. The location in Warwickshire appears is written "Hethcot" in the 1196 Feet of Fines for the county. The Anglo-Saxon surname "Heathcote" originates from a hamlet that stands high on the barren hills above Dovedale and Hartington. The place-name refers to a cottage on a heath or wasteland where was found an outlying farm or grange of Grendon Abbey. The said Grendon Abbey was founded in 1133. Some of the earliest references to the grange at Heathcote are found in records of the 1300 and 15th century.
Contents
Some variations of the name are "Heathcoat" and "Heathcote".
North America
A close study of immigration records shows that some of the earliest North American immigrants had the surname Heathcote in one of its various forms. These included:
Britain
In 2008 it was estimated that 4,849 persons living in Great Britain share the Heathcote surname. The same estimation estimated that it is the 2,042nd most common name in Great Britain.