Whitton Family History

Scottish: habitational name from Whitton in Morebattle (Roxburghshire). The placename is from Old English hwīt ‘white’ + tūn ‘farm village’ as with many of the places in 2 below.

English: habitational name from any of the places called Whitton (Durham, Lincolnshire, Middlesex, Northumberland, Shropshire, Suffolk) or Witton (Cheshire, Durham, Lancashire, Herefordshire, Norfolk, Northumberland, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, North Yorkshire); or possibly from Wyton (Huntingdonshire, East Yorkshire); or possibly from Weeton, Market Weighton, or Little Weighton (East Yorkshire).

The placenames do not all share the same etymology but most of their post-medieval spellings are interchangeable. Most of the placenames derive from the Old English personal name Hwīta or Old English hwīt ‘white’ + tūn ‘farmstead estate’ though some, for example Witton in Warwickshire, derive from Old English wīc ‘dwelling specialized farmstead’ + tūn and some others, for example Witton in Norfolk, derive from Old English widu ‘wood’ + tūn.

Whitton in Lincolnshire derives from the Old English personal name Hwīta (genitive Hwītan) or Old English hwīt (dative hwītan) + ēg ‘island’. Witton in Lancashire derives from the Old English personal Witta + Old English tūn.

English: in Devon, this surname is a variant of Whiddon.