This is an English surname of French origins that has been recorded in a variety of forms including Lott, Lote, Lotte, Lots, and maybe more. It might be derived from the Hebrew personal name Lot, which means "cover" and was popular in Northern France throughout the Middle Ages. Or it could be related to the Latin word loda meaning "ivory". The first record of the name dates back to about 1150. It appears in the Doomsday Book as Loth. After this initial entry, the name seems to have disappeared from history for nearly 500 years. It made its comeback in 1720 when John Lott married Anne Hill. They were both born in England but lived in America so it's possible that John had brought the name with him from Europe. It wasn't until the early 20th century that the name began to show up frequently in records. This may be because people started using it as a second name instead of just adding it to their first. Nowadays, people use both their first and last names on official documents such as passports and birth certificates. Lott is the 9th most common name of American ancestry. It ranks below Lauer, McDonald, Nguyen but above Miller, Mendelson, and Williams.