Orritt Family History

Perhaps from the Middle English personal name Ured (spelled Ored), a reduced form of either Old English Wulfrǣd (from wulf ‘wolf’ + rǣd ‘advice’) or possibly Old English Wulffrith from frithu ‘peace’. Wulfrǣd is evidenced in 12th-century E Anglia and may survive as a surname there in Urry, Oury, and Hurry, with the final syllable reflecting an Anglo-Norman pronunciation of -(f)red and -(f)rith.

Compare Alfrey. The earliest Cheshire and Staffs examples in (1) take the form Orehe(a)d, which could reflect folk etymologizing of Orrett or could suggest an alternative derivation from an unidentified minor place-name apparently named with Old English hēafod ‘head, hilltop, promontory’ as the final element.