The name Witters is tied to the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of England. It comes from the Old Norse personal name Vidarr, which means, wide messenger. Witters is a patronymic surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. Many patronyms were formed when a son used his father's personal name as a surname, while others came from the personal names of famous religious and secular figures. In this case, the surname was originally derived from the given name of an ancestor of the bearer. The name could also have been derived from the Anglo Saxon Wihthere, meaning "a courageous warrior" or in some cases, derived from the word "wether" meaning "sheep" or "ram." In this latter case, it could denote an occupational name particularly when a suffix is added as in "Wetherman", "Wethered" and "Weatherherd."
The surname Witters was first found in Norfolk and Lincolnshire where the first record of the name "occurs in the Domesday Book as a tenant prior to that census. " [1] [2]
Wyther cognomento Turnel was listed in Norfolk (1134-1140) as was Richerus filius Wither (1153-1168.) William Wither was listed in Lincolnshire c. 1160 and Geoffrey Wider was listed in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1192. [3]
The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 includes: Agnes Wyther in Cambridgeshire; Richard Wyther in Oxfordshire; Simon Wyther in Huntingdonshire; and Walter Wythor in Cambridgeshire. [2]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Witters research. Another 95 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1688, 1715, 1809, 1588, 1667, 1657, 1720, 1707, 1708, 1708, 1675, 1661, 1664, 1664, 1669, 1669 and 1675 are included under the topic Early Witters History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Witters has undergone many spelling variations, including Withers, Wither, Weather, Wetherman, Wethered and many more.
Distinguished members of the family include George Wither (1588-1667), an English poet, pamphleteer, and satirist. He was born at Bentworth, near Alton, Hampshire, the eldest of three sons of George Wither. "The Wither family is said to have been originally settled in Lancashire, but five generations had been settled before the poet's birth in Hampshire. The eldest branch of the family was long...
Another 63 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Witters Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Some of the Witters family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 106 words (8 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Witters were among those contributors: