The English family name Kitteridge comes from the Middle English personal name "Keterych."
The surname Kitteridge was first found in Essex, where the first on record were Adam and Roger Keterych, both listed in the Feet of Fines for Essex.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Kitteridge research. More information is included under the topic Early Kitteridge History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Kitteridge family name include Kittredge, Kittridge, Kitteridge, Kettredge, Ketteridge and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Kitteridge Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Some of the Kitteridge family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 33 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Kitteridge surname or a spelling variation of the name include: