This unusual surname has the distinction of being recorded in thirty five alternative spellings, but all have the same locational origins. The meaning is "The Dweller at the Cold Huts" from Anglo-Saxon pre 7th Century "Ceald-Cote", and from the various places named Chaldicotes, Chalcots, Chollacott, Chadecot, Caulcott, and Cold Cotes. The name may occasionally be from Normandy where a place called Caude-Cote also existed, and the claim has been made that wherever a Roman Road existed, so does a hamlet or village called "Calde-Cote"! The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Geoffrey de Caudecotes, which was dated 1206, The Kings Rolls for Kent, during the reign of King John, "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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.