Researching Billy Cotton
Investigate the background of Billy Cotton using the links below. We hope you find this information useful!
![]() | Did you know that in the 1881 UK census there were 7149 people with the Cotton surname? In that year Cotton was ranked number 569 for popularity in the UK. |
Good news! There is already a One Name Study on the Cotton surname.

The name Billy means "Form of WILLIAM - resolute guardian" and is of German origin.
Records of Billy Cotton on Ancestry
Ancestry is a major source of information if you are filling out the detail of Billy Cotton in your family tree. With over 30 billion records and 100 million family trees to search, Ancestry is one of the key websites to visit to help you trace your family tree back in time. Free trials are normally available and are a good way to fill out a lot of your tree quickly.
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Ancestry.com Global records search results for Billy Cotton. |
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Ancestry.com US records search results for Billy Cotton. |
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Ancestry.co.uk UK records search results for Billy Cotton. |
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Ancestry.ca Canadian records search results for Billy Cotton. |
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Ancestry.com.au Australian records search results for Billy Cotton. |
DNA
Sometimes you can run into a brick wall in your tree and you just don't have enough evidence to make that next step back in time. A DNA test can sometimes help to make a link to a particular family name if you find you share common DNA with people who have the same or similar surnames as each other. If you are lucky then you may get a match within a few generations and discover some Cotton ancestors. Additionally, the modern DNA test can give you a breakdown of your ethnic mix - you may be surprised at the results!
Have you reached a brick wall in your Cotton Tree?
Birth, Death and Marriage Records for Billy Cotton and the Cotton Family History
Birth, Death and Marriage records are often the best method of making the links to the Cotton Genealogy that will form part of your family tree. Although records vary from country to country, they are normally the most formal record of a person's relations. From the sources below you will be able to find a birth record and, from that, a birth certificate can be ordered which lists the names of the mother and father, taking you back another generation in your tree. A marriage certificate may also list the names of the respective fathers of the bride and groom which may then help you to find them earlier in life on a census record enabling you to fill out more detail in the Cotton family tree.
Look at Parish Records for Billy Cotton at Find My Past.
Look at for the UK registered births, marriages and deaths of Billy Cotton using the FreeBMD database.
Investigate Genealogy Bank for Billy Cotton records.
Look at MyHeritage for Billy Cotton information.
Investigate the LDS Database for records about Billy Cotton.
Research the Cotton surname using fold3 Military Archives and view images of original Cotton Military records.
![]() | Did you know that there are currently 8520 people with the Cotton surname in the UK? Cotton is now ranked number 690 for popularity in the UK. |
Cotton Family History Databases
Another way to build your tree quickly is to use the research other people have already done. This can help to confirm or refute your own deductions - however, be wary of taking this data at face value as other researchers may not have been as meticulous as you. Always try to back up deductions with some definitive sources rather than relying too heavily on others.
Study the WikiTree database for user contributed records for Billy Cotton.
Study MyTrees for information on the Cotton family and people looking to contact living Cotton relations.
Check out One Great Family for Cotton records submitted by people who are already researching the Cotton Family Tree.
Find Billy Cotton from Ireland on findmypast.ie
Cotton Forums
There are a number of forums which are dedicated to rearching particular surnames. These can be good places to share your findings and also to tap into the knowledge that others may already have. These can sometimes be a good way of finding living relations as these tend not to show up on the other sources of information for privacy reasons.
Research the Cotton surname using Genealogy.com forums .
![]() | Did you know that there are currently 42535 people with the Cotton surname in the USA? Cotton is ranked number 143 for popularity in the USA. |
Miscellaneous Cotton Databases
Search the Ellis Island Database for information on Billy Cotton. This database contains over 25 million immigration records detailing passengers arriving in the United States of America.
Some Famous People called Billy Cotton
Billy Cotton
William Edward Cotton (6 May 1899 – 25 March 1969) as Billy Cotton was an English band leader and entertainer, one of the few whose orchestras survived the British dance band era. Cotton is now mainly remembered as a 1950s and 1960s radio and television personality, but his musical career had begun in the 1920s. In his younger years, Billy Cotton was also an amateur footballer for Brentford (and later, for the then Athenian league club Wimbledon), an accomplished racing driver and the owner of a Gipsy Moth, which he piloted himself. His autobiography, I Did It My Way, was published in 1970, a year after his death.
Source: Billy Cotton, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Other names that sound a bit like Cotton
Family names can get corrupted over time, particularly where literacy was not as good. The following list contains some names that have similar sounds so you may want to also look at one or two of the more likely possibilites.
Cadamy Cadany Caddan Cadden Cadena Cadney Cadona Catania Catino Caton Catone Catonne Cattaneo Catten Cattin Cattini Catton Cauthen Cauthon Cawthon Cayton Cedeno Chaddoan Chaddoen Chadney Chadouin Chadwen Chadwin Chatain Chatan Chatham Chatin Chatom Chattan Chatten Chattin Chatwin Chaudoin Chaudowen Cheatham Cheatum Cheetam Cheetham Chetham Chetney Chetwin Chiodini Chitham Chittem Chittim Chittum Coaten Coatham Coatney Codden Codney Cotham Cotney Coton Cottam Cottem Cotten Cottham Cottoen Cottom Cottone Couden Couthon Coutinho Couton Coutton Cowden Cowdin Cowton Cuddem Cuddon Cudemo Cudney Cutten Cuttin





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