Witling

An East Anglia variant alternative spelling of the Olde English pre 9th Century 'Hwiting' - meaning 'The Son of the Fair Haired One'. In this case we leave an intrusive 'L', probably of 17th Century introduction to aid in local dialectual pronunciation. The personal name as 'Hwita' was still common in the 12th Century in remote areas. In the modern idiom the usual spelling is Whiting but the development has included Hwytyng (1327) Hwiteng (1134) etc. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Witenc which was dated 1084, The Domesday Book (Somerset) during the reign of King William 1 The Conqueror 1066 - 1087 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.