This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the moat.' Middle English mote, Old French mote, a dike, an embankment; the same as modern the Frenchmotte, a mound; compare also mothe, a little earthen fortresse, Cotgrave French and English Dictionary (v. Skeat, s. v. moat, for full history of the word). All the above forms are found, without prefix, in the Hundred Rolls (, 1273); compare French 'Delamotte.'

Saundrina de la Mote: Wardrobe Account, 21-23 Edward III.

(a) Bapt. 'the son of Motte.' Undeniably some of our Motts, &c, are of fontal origin. Whether this Mott was a nick, of some familiar personal name or not I cannot at present say. I give instances of both origins together, as I cannot separate them.

Motte (without surname), Buckinghamshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

William Moth, Norfolk, ibid.

Basilia Motte, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Richard Mote, Oxfordshire, ibid.

Elena Mott, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Hugo Mott, 1379: ibid.

Since writing the above it has occurred to me that Motte was but one more attempt at Matilda.

1786. Married — John Pain and Mary Moth: St. George, Hanover Square.

(French.) A round artificial hill.

The same as Mott, Motte, Mote, Mouth; from French motte, a hillock. These names must have been originally De la Motte or La Motte, which are not uncommon surnames at the present day. La Mothe is the appellation of several communes and villages of France, especially in deps. Lot, Dordogne, and Deux-Sèvres.

The Motts have found a home in this county for at least 600 years. In the 13th century the name of Motte occurred in Bradfield in this county (H. R.). From the 14th to the 17th century there resided a notable gentle family of Mott at Shalford; some of the members lived at Braintree, in the same neighbourhood, in the 16th and 17th centuries; Sherne Hall, Shalford, was in the possession of the family in the 17th century (M. and W.). Robert Mott, an Essex gentleman, contributed £25 towards the defence of his country at the time of the expected Spanish invasion of 1588 (Sp.) Robert Mott was an alderman of Colchester in 1583 (M.) Samuel Mott was mayor of Colchester in 1686 and 1693 (C.) The name is still in Braintree. Motts and Mote are old manorial estates in the county (M.). In the 13th century, Motte, sometimes written Mot, was a common Cambridgeshire name, but it also occurred then in Essex, Hunts, Kent, Bucks, and Oxfordshire (H. R.).