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Coetzee is an Afrikaans surname, derived from the Hungarian Kocsi, meaning "from Kocs", which gave its name to the coach in numerous European languages. The surname also originates from French : "Couche", but the true origin of the surname is from Breton [Old French] : "Coet". Origins of the surname Coetzee / Coetsee Edit
The surname Coetzee/Coetsee is of French Huguenot origin, originally spelt Couché[8][9] Surnames were only recorded for taxation purposes and many officials of the Dutch East India Company were semi-literate,[10] but this was also before the time of canonised spelling conventions, and thus there are a number of variations of the surname in South Africa, e.g. Coetzee, Coetse, Coussé.[11] Coetsenburg, the family's wine estate in Stellenbosch, is often spelt Coetzenburg.[12] The Couché family were French Protestants (known as Huguenots) of Breton origin that fled their homes in Le Marais in Paris with other Émigrés after the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572.[13] They resettled initially in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic and later moved to Kampen in the Overijssel where they Dutchified and established themselves.[14] A branch of the family intermarried with the British and Anglicized after the British conquest in 1795 and the Coetsenburg Estate is now under their custodianship.