Whitty Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Whitty Family History

Whitty Family History

The ancient origin of the name Whitty was found in the irishsurnames.com archives.

Many different spelling variations of the same name can be traced back to a single original root. Also, when a bearer of a name emigrated from Ireland it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books upon arrival at their new location. Some names have dozens of spelling variations. Some Surnames were also altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically, by their sound, and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another. This was especially so in Ireland where most Gaelic names were 'anglicized' at some stage.

Variants of the name Whitty include Whitey, Wittey, Witty and Wittie. This is a locational name meaning 'at the white hay', from a residence thereby. This name is of Anglo-Saxon descent spreading to the Celtic countries of Ireland, Scotland and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts throughout the above islands. Examples of such are a Thomas ate Wytheg, County Oxfordshire, who was recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls', England, in the year 1273 and a Walter Williams and Jane Witty who were granted a marriage license at the Faculty Office, in the year 1632. In Ireland the name occurs frequently in Counties Wexford and Waterford from the year 1305 on. They owned and built the Castles of Ballhealy, Baldwinstown and Ballyteige in County Wexford. Ballyteige was their principal seat. By the seventeenth century they were numerous in County Wexford where in modern times they are still found. The Whitty family crest (or coat of arms) came into existence many centuries ago. The process of creating these coats of arms began as early as the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this, including Ireland. The new more formalized art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own family crest, coat of arms, including Whitty descendants.