Cohesin is a ring-shaped protein complex and plays a critical role in sister chromosome cohesion, which is a key event during mitosis and meiosis. Meiotic recombination protein REC8 is one of the subunits of the cohesion complex. AlthoughREC8genes have been characterized in some plant species, little is known about them inGossypium. In this study, 89REC8genes were identified and analyzed in 16 plant species (including 4Gossypiumspecies); 12REC8genes were identified inGossypium. hirsutum, 11 inGossypium. barbadense, 7 inGossypium. raimondii,and 5 inGossypium. arboreum. In a phylogenetic analysis, the 89RCE8genes clustered into 6 subfamilies (I–VI). The chromosome location, exon-intron structure, and motifs of theREC8genes in theGossypiumspecies were also analyzed. Expression patterns ofGhREC8genes in various tissues and under abiotic stress treatments were analyzed based on public RNA-seq data, which indicated thatGhREC8genes might have different functions in growth and development. Additionally, qRT-PCR analysis showed that MeJA, GA, SA, and ABA treatments could induce the expression ofGhREC8genes. In general, the genes of theREC8gene family of cotton were systematically analyzed, and their potential function in cotton mitosis, meiosis, and in response to abiotic stress and hormones were preliminary predicted, which provided an important basis for further research on cotton development and resistance to abiotic stress.