Chittim

Chittim
Recorded in an extraordinary range of spellings including Chatan, Chetham, Cheetham, Chitham, Chittim and the London area dialectal Chitson, this is an English surname. It is locational from a place called Cheetham in the county of Lancashire. Recorded as Chetam in the Fines Court Rolls of the year 1212 in that county, and as Chetham in the Inquests Register dated 1226, the name derives from the Ancient British (pre-Roman) word "ceto", meaning a forest, and "ham" translating variously as village, estate, manor or homestead, but given the general description of "settlement". The surname was first recorded in the mid 13th Century, and an early example is that of Thomas de Cheteham in the "Calendar of Inquisitiones" for Lancashire in 1394. Locational surnames being "from" names, that is to say names given to people after they left their original homes as easy means of identification, are also the ones most likely to develop variant forms. As a rule of thumb, the further they travelled, the greater the variance. Examples of the surname recordings taken from surviving church registers include Ellis Cheetam christened at Middleton by Oldham, on August 1st 1542, John Chitham, who was christened at Prestwich on July 10th 1608, and in London, John Chitson, the son of Symon Chitson, was christened at St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on April 21st 1791.Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Surnames reference. 2013.

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  • Chittim — Chittim, bei den Juden entfernte Länder des Westens, vielleicht Italien, od. Kypern, od. Macedonien …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Chittim — (nach Luther Kithim, 1. Mos. 10,4 unter den Nachkommen Javans, d. h. der Griechen, genannt), in der Bibel ursprünglich Name der einheimischen Bewohner Cyperns (identisch mit dem des in der Urzeit in Syrien verbreiteten Volkes der Hettiter, s.d.); …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Chittim —    Or Kittim, a plural form (Gen. 10:4), the name of a branch of the descendants of Javan, the son of Japheth. Balaam foretold (Num. 24:24) that ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and afflict Eber. Daniel prophesied (11:30) that the… …   Easton's Bible Dictionary

  • CHITTIM —    the Bible name for Cyprus …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • chittim — chit·tim …   English syllables

  • chittim bark — noun see chittam bark …   Useful english dictionary

  • CETIS — I. CETIS Ciliciae regio. Ptol. II. CETIS regio apud Ptol. et Basilium Seleuciensem l. 1. de vita S. Theolae. Auctor primi libri Macchabaeorum, haudquaquam contemnendus scriptor, putavit haud dubie Chittim esse Macedones. Quippe statim initiô l. x …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • CETHIM — Hebr. Chittim, Graeci interpretes Κιττίους reddunt, et Κιτιεῖς, i. e. Cyprios, si Iosepho credimus; quia in Cypro insulâ, Citium urbs est celeberrima, patria Zenonis Stoici, qui Κιττιαίους inde appellatur. Addit idem, omnes insulas, et loca… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Isaiah 23 — 1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. 2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that… …   The King James version of the Bible

  • Hittites — For the people of the Hebrew Bible, see Biblical Hittites. The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia. They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its… …   Wikipedia

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