{{ad}} |
|
|
Origins Available: |
| England |
The name Titley has a long Anglo-Saxon heritage. The name comes from when a family lived in the village of Tetley found in the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. Titley is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. During the Middle Ages, as society became more complex, individuals needed a way to be distinguishable from others. Toponymic surnames were developed as a result of this need. Various features in the landscape or area were used to distinguish people from one another. In this case the surname Titley was originally derived from the Old English personal name Taeta from the Old Norse word Teitr meaning cheerful and the Old English word leah menaing wood clearing. In this case the original bearers of the surname Titley were named due to their close proximity to Taeta's wood clearing.
The surname Titley was first found in Shropshire where they held a family seat from very ancient times, before and after the Norman Conquest of 1066.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Titley research. Another 96 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Titley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate spelled their names differently as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Titley have been found, including Tetley, Tetlow, Tetlaw, Titley and others.
More information is included under the topic Early Titley Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Families began migrating abroad in enormous numbers because of the political and religious discontent in England. Often faced with persecution and starvation in England, the possibilities of the New World attracted many English people. Although the ocean trips took many lives, those who did get to North America were instrumental in building the necessary groundwork for what would become for new powerful nations. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America bore the name Titley, or a variant listed above: