Whitcomb
A locational surname meaning “white valley” or “white hollow,” from an English place-name built on Old English and Celtic roots.
The #4,263 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 37,091 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Whitcomb comes from a place-name element: Old English hwit, meaning “white,” plus cumb, a Celtic word for a valley or hollow. The sense is usually taken as “white valley” or “white hollow,” probably referring to pale ground, chalk, or light-colored scenery. The surname was adopted from a place called Whitcombe or Whitcomb.
History
The name is tied to English places such as Whitcombe in Gloucestershire and Somerset, and historical spellings vary. It is a fairly ordinary English locational surname and later spread beyond its original counties. In the United States it appears in several spellings, including Whitcomb and Whitcombe.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source glossed Whitcomb as essentially “the white valley,” showing how transparently place-based the name was to early surname scholars.
From the historical record
“the equivalent Welsh name Eglwys Wen. WHITCOMB 1 (Eng.) Bel. to Whitcomb or WHITCOMBEJ Whitcombe = the White Valley or Hollovj? \0.'E. hwit + cumb (Celt. : v. Combe] WHITE (Eng. & Scand.) Of White or Fair Complexion [O.E. hwit = O.N. huit-r] Hwita was the name of an 8th-cent.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)