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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : habitational name from any of various places so called. North and South Witham in Lincolnshire derive the name from the river on which they stand, which is of ancient British origin and uncertain meaning. Witham on the Hill in Lincolnshire, along with other examples in Essex and Somerset, was probably originally named with an Old English byname Wit(t)a (presumably from wit(t) ‘wits’, ‘mind’) + Old English hām ‘homestead’. However, the first element may instead have been Old English wiht ‘bend’.

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