Bittle
An English surname with a disputed origin, most likely tied either to a beadle or to a Welsh personal name that became common in western England.
The #9,850 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 94,015 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Bittle has several proposed explanations, and the early surname scholars do not agree. One view connects it with Old English bydel, meaning a beadle or messenger, with Biddle/Bittle developing as a dialectal or spelling variant. Another view, reflected in later scholarship, treats it as a western-English form of Welsh Ab Ithel, the same name behind surnames such as Bethell and Bithell. Because the historical forms and regional spread can fit more than one source, the safest summary is that the name is probably English in form but uncertain in exact root.
History
The surname appears in English records in several spellings, including Bittle and Biddle, and has been especially associated with Gloucestershire and nearby western counties. In the 20th-century onomastic literature, it was discussed alongside other surnames thought to have Welsh influence in the west of England. The modern bearers are relatively few, and the name remains uncommon in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One of the main reasons this surname is interesting is that old scholars argued over whether it came from an office-holder, a beadle, or from a Welsh personal name beginning with Ab-.
From the historical record
“BiNNSE, BlllCHARD, BiRKMAIER, BiSHPAN, BiSSELL, Bisset, Bittle, Bivins, Bixby, Blackett, Bladon, Blagge, Blaikie, Blain, Blair, Blakely, Blake- more, Blakeney and Blakeny, Blanchard, Blan- DiN, Blaney, Blannett, Blasser, Blease, Blen- KiNSOP, Blethen, Blevens, Blight, Blinn, Blish, Blodgett, Blom, Bloot, Blos…”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)