Bapt 'the son of Ottur' (v. Yonge). (a) Nick, 'the otter.' Middle English oter. The former is evidently the chief parent of the surname, as will be seen below. Oter was a great Scandinavian personal name (v. Lower).

Edward Oter, Cambridgeshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Robert Oter, Suffolk, ibid.

Walter Oter, Oxfordshire, ibid.

Otuer de Insula, Henry III-Edward I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

Otverus de Insula, ibid.

Johannes Otour, spicer, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1766. Married — Robert Otter and Sarah Henslow: St. George, Hanover Square.

From the common ON. personal name Ottarr. John Otir witnessed gift of land to the Hospital of Soltre, c. 1250-66 (Soltre, p. 32). Johannes Otyr, witness in Berwick, 1264 (Neubotle, p. 152), may be John Oter, merchant there, who had license to trade by land and sea for two years in 1291, and II 1296 rendered homage (Bain, II, p. 130,203). His seal shows two chevrons on a shield, a quarrel above, S' Johannis Otyr (ibid., p. 554). Gregor-Oder also rendered homage in 1296 (Macdonald, 2174). Simon Otyr, burgess of Crail, 1402 (Royal Hist. Soc. Trans., VI p. 330). Donald Otor was baron of Twlezettyll, 1548 (Athole, p. 714.)

(Anglo-Scand.). The Old Norse Ottar(r for Otthar=Terrible Army [Old Norse ótti, terror, dread + -har, her-r, army] was Anglicized Ohter (‘A.-Sax. Chron.’, A.D. 911,918), Ohthere (‘Beówulf,’ 5857, etc.).

The modern Scandinavian forms are Ottar, Aattar, Otter, etc. Stöylen (‘Norske Döbenavne,’ p. 70) says that this name is often confused with the German Otto.

(Teutonic) 1 the O.Ger. Other = Prosperous Army [O.H.Ger. ót, prosperity + heri, army] 2 a nickname from the Otter [Middle English oter(e, Old English oter, ottor = Old Norse otr = Ger.

and Dutch otter] Walter Oter.—Hundred Rolls

(Norwegian, English) Dweller at the sign of the otter; descendant of Otthar (terrible, army); dweller at the Otter (otter stream), a river in England.

A Scandinavian personal name of great antiquity, and common application. It is variously spelt Otter, Ohter, Other, Othyr, Ottyr. Oter, and in Domesday book. Otre. In some one or other of these forms it occurs also in the Saxon Chronicle, the Annales Cambriae, and the Dublin Annals. A lately-decyphered inscription on a cross in the isle of Man reads-"Otr raised this cross to Fruki, his father." As a family name, it has existed from time immemorial in the "Danish" or Northman counties of East Yorkshire. Nottingham, Lincoln and Derby, where there is almost a elan of Otters, though the name is rarely to be met with in other counties, and scarcely appears at all in the metropolis. Walter Fitz-Other, the celebrated castellan of Windsor, temp. William I., the reputed ancestor of the Fitzgeralds. Gerards. Windsors. and other great houses, was the son of Otherus. a great landowner under the Confessor, but whether the latter was of Norse descent does not appear: there is, however, something like armorial evidence of the connection of the Otters with the families alluded to. Ingram, in his translation of the Saxon Chronicle, says that Otter was "originally 'oht-here or ' ocht-here,' i.e. Terror of an Army."

Local. Oitir, Gaelic, a low promontory jutting into the sea, a shoal.

Same as the well-known Scandivanian name Ottar, which Ferguson renders fear-inspiring. The name is also found written Ohter, Other, Othyr, Ottyr, Oter, and, in Domesday, Otre. "Walter Fitz-Other (says Lower), the celebrated castellan of Windsor, temp. William I., the reputed ancestor of the Fitz-Geralds, Gerards, Windsors, and other great houses, was the son of Otherus, a great landowner under the Confessor. Ingram, in his translation of the Saxon Chronicle, says Otter was originally oht-here or ocht here, i. e. terror of an army."