Little (surname)

Little is a surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Middle English littel,[1] and the Old English lȳtel, which mean "little".[2] In some cases the name was originally a nickname for a little man. In other cases, the name was used to distinguish the younger of two bearers of the same personal name.[1] Early records of the name include: Litle, in 972; Litle, in about 1095; and le Lytle, in 1296.[2] The surname has absorbed several non English-language surnames. For example, Little is sometimes a translation of the Irish Ó Beagáin, meaning "descendant of Beagán". Little can also be a translation of the French Petit and Lepetit, as well as other surnames in various languages with the same meaning ("little"),[1] especially the German name Klein during World War II.

Little
"lȳtle," an Old Anglo-Saxon term for little things
GenderUnisex
Language(s)English
Origin
Language(s)Old English (OE), Middle English (ME)
Word/namelȳtel (OE), littel (ME)
Meaning"little"

People

Names held by several people

Academics

Businesspeople

Performers

Politicians

Sportspeople

Writers

Others

Fictional characters
  • Bingo Little, in P. G. Wodehouse stories
  • Chicken Little, also known as Henny Penny or Chicken Licken
  • Stuart Little, fictional mouse in many of E. B. White's short stories, and in some films
  • Denton Little, protagonist of the Denton Little book series by Lance Rubin

See also

References
  1. Learn about the family history of your surname, Ancestry.com, retrieved 22 February 2011, which cited: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4, for the surname "Little".
  2. Reaney, Percy Hilde (1995), Wilson, Richard Middlewood (ed.), A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 281, ISBN 0-19-863146-4.
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