Lytle
A spelling variant of Little, originally a nickname for a small person or the younger of two people with the same name.
The #2,781 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 23,805 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Lytle is a surname from Middle English little, meaning “small” or “young.” It was typically used as a nickname for a person of short stature, or to distinguish the younger of two people with the same name. The spelling with y is a historical variant of Little and related forms such as Littell, Lytle, and Lyttle.
History
19th-century surname writers treat Lytle as one of several orthographic forms of Little. The name is found in English-speaking areas and later became established in North America, where variant spellings often stabilized in different branches of the same family. In Irish records it can also appear as an Anglicized or assimilated spelling in some families, though the core meaning remains the same.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname’s older nickname sense could mean both “small in size” and “the younger one” in a family or community.
From the historical record
“IiJtater.— Occup. ; v. Lister, Idttl«, Littell. Lytle, UtcO, Lyt«U,I.yttle.-Nick. 'theliltle'; cf. Bigg, Small, and Long. Some- times affixed as a aobriquet on the least of two bearinE the same”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances