This is a tribal habitational name of Old English, pre 7th Century origins. It derives either from a village such as Adcot in Shropshire, or from residence at a house known as "Aedda's Cottage", "Cott" in its literal sense means a place for the cattle, the "modern" translation dates from the early medieval period as a house for a "Cotter", a free holder or worker on the land. The name recording examples include Anne Edicout who was christened at St. Anne's Church, Soho, Westminster on September 30th 1750. William Edicotte, a witness at St. Mary-Le-Bone on March 5th 1753, whilst on June 4th 1791, Richard Eddicott married Anne Johnson at the Church of St. Luke, Finsbury, London in the reign of George 111, (Farmer George) 1760 - 1820. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Margrett Iddcat, which was dated March 20th 1658, christened at the Church of All Hallows, London Wall, during the reign of Oliver Cromwell, "The Great Protecter", 1649 - 1658. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.