Jump to content

Little (surname)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"
Other names
Variant form(s)Littell, Lytle, Lyttle

Little is a surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Middle English littel[1] and the Old English lȳtel, which means "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.

People

[edit]

Names held by several people

[edit]

Academics

[edit]

Businesspeople

[edit]

Performers

[edit]

Politicians

[edit]

Sportspeople

[edit]

Writers

[edit]

Others

[edit]
  • Alice Little, (born 1990), Irish–American sex-worker and advocate
  • Donald Little, Canadian judge
  • Joan Little (born 1953), African-American acquitted of murder
  • Ken Little (born 1947), modernist American sculptor
  • Lewis Henry Little (1817–1862), Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War
  • Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, 1925–1965), Afro-American civil rights leader and Nation of Islam minister
  • Samuel Little (1940–2020), American serial killer
  • Tony Little (born 1956), American TV fitness personality

Fictional characters

[edit]
  • 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

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b 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.