Cotton Mather, 17th century Puritan minister

As the plant and the textile, it came from Arabic quţun.

Cotton, the textile fiber

As a place name, "Cotton" came from Anglo-Saxon cot-tūn = "cottage farmstead".

Charles Cotton, poet

Fearne Cotton, English television presenter and DJ

Cotton (Pirates), a character in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" film trilogy

Mary Ann Cotton, British serial killer

Cotton (video game), a series of video games

Cotton (motorcycle), British motorcycle manufacturer

Henry Cotton, British golfer

F. Albert Cotton, inorganic chemist

Antony Cotton - British actor

Arthur Cotton, British general and engineer famous for his work in India

Gossypium, the cotton plant

Billy Cotton, British band leader

Bill Cotton, British Television Executive

Émile Cotton, French mathematician, discoverer of the Cotton tensor

One of the Cotton Baronets

Charles Cotton (geologist), New Zealand geologist

Robert Cotton, various

William Cotton, various

There are a number of places called Coton in England. These...

List of Old English (Anglo-Saxon) surnames

Coton, Staffordshire

Aimé Auguste Cotton (1869–1951), French scientist, discovered the Cotton effect (in 1895) and Cotton-Mouton effects

Cotton, the family of Hobbits

Cotton Hill, a character on King of the Hill