Whitteridge Family History
Whitteridge Surname Meaning
From the Middle English personal name Withrich Withrik (Old English Wihtrīc from wiht ‘sprite creature’ + rīc ‘power realm’). Spellings with -rich (later -ridge) reflect the nominative form of the personal name while those with -rick derive from the [k] of inflected forms in Old English. For the variation see
From one of the three places named Whitrigg in Cumb or perhaps also from Wheatridge in Earsdon (Northumb) recorded as Whytrig i.e. with final -g in 1296. The place-names all mean ‘white ridge’; the latter is Old English; the former three include Old Scandinavian hryggr ‘ridge’ but spellings in -rik are also found.
Some forms in -dge may belong with (1) but may also be from a form of Whitrigg with excrescent -s. In later centuries the two names (1) and (2) may have become confused.
Source: The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, 2016