Coat of Arms & Family Crest Details
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“D'azur à un croiss. d'arg. C.: deux prob., coupées alt. d'arg. et d'azur.”
A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Kotey family of Denmark.
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“D'azur à un croiss. d'arg. C.: deux prob., coupées alt. d'arg. et d'azur.”

The Kotey arms were recorded in Denmark, c. 1722.
Arms such as these were typically recorded in Sjaælland.
Zealand held the Danish court, the crown's offices and Copenhagen itself. Families who served the king kept estates within reach of it, and royal service was the ordinary route to a coat of arms.
This is where the arms were entered in the register. Families often moved to other parts of the country, so the same name can turn up in more than one region.
Danish heraldry during this period was closely tied to noble status and royal favor rather than being open to all citizens. Arms were typically granted by the monarch to individuals, and these symbols were then shared by all members of the noble house. If a family line died out, the right to use those specific arms ended with them.
The surname Kotey carries a distinct history rooted in the cultural landscape of eighteenth-century Denmark. Records confirm that members of the family were established in the region of Sjælland by 1722, a time when the Danish population was largely transitioning toward more standardized naming conventions. During this period, families in rural Sjælland often lived in tight-knit agricultural communities where names were tied to local geography or specific ancestral trades. The presence of the Kotey name in these early church and census records suggests that the family was part of the foundational social fabric of the island. As the family grew, they navigated the shifting economic conditions of the Danish countryside, moving through generations that witnessed the modernization of local governance and land ownership. By tracing their roots to this specific time and place, the family history reflects the broader story of Danish people who built their lives and legacies in the fertile lands of Sjælland.
A medieval diminutive form of the Germanic name Constantine.
