Well, that's one explanation :-)

Another one, from the Book of English Surnames, says-

"cock was used as a nickname for one who strutted like a cock and became a common term for apert boys being used of scullions, apprentices and servants-'servant of' "

"Cockshute, a glade in the woods, down which the woodcock came and were caught in nets stretched across for that purpose. The annual rental of these was 4d or 6d, and there was some competition for them."

and

La Cockesete 1270. From Old English *cocc-scyte 'a woodland glade where nets were stretched to catch woodcock'.

Dictionary of English Place-Names, Oxford University Press, © A.D. Mills 1998 Cockshutt in Shropshire

Since finding a COCKSHOTT in my tree I've been quite fascinated by the various spellings over the ages. From COKESHUTTE in the 16th century to COTTSHOT in 20th.

I started collecting them: from the IGI, the web, various databanks and census. At the moment I have a collection of 10,000 people with over 100 hundred spelling variations !! I'm also collecting COCKSHAW and variations .. they seem to have been interchangeable at times.

I'm now the COCKSHOTT list admin at Rootsweb and am posting everything I find to it's archives... and thanks to the helpful folk at Yorksgen I'm finding a lot.

People found in the 1841 England and 1840 USA census	People found in the 1851 England and 1850 USA census
People found in the 1861 England and 1860 USA census	People found in the 1871 England and 1870 USA census
People found in the 1881 England and 1880 USA census	People found in the 1891 England and 1890 USA census
People found in the 1901 England and 1900 USA census	People found in the 1910 - 1930 USA census
1166 COCKSHOTTs etc. in the 1881 census CDs.	1163 COCKSHOTTs etc. 1901 census Index. Text file

Join the COCKSHOTT/COCKSHUTT/COCKSHAW mailing list	How to search the archives.
Over 100 spelling variations .. choose your favourite ..	Various Trade Directories
An interesting COCKSHOTT note	COCKSHOTT etc. at World Connect (updated Aug 2006) 8500 people
Messy list of 2090 marriages before 1911	What does this say ?
COCKSHOTT wills	Links to other COCKSHOTT web sites and COCKSHOTT places