Popularity of the last name by country

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Origine of last name

WHITE : 1: English: from Middle English white wit (Old English hwīt ‘white’) hence a nickname for someone with white hair or a pale complexion. In some cases it is perhaps from a Middle English survival of the Old English personal name Hwīta a short form of names in Hwīt- (from hwīt ‘white’). The name may also be topographic referring to someone who lived by a bend or curve in a river or road (from Old English wiht ‘bend’) the source of the placename of Great Whyte in Ramsey Huntingdonshire (compare <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Wight">Wight</a>). This name is also a variant of <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Wight">Wight</a>. The surname White is also very common among African Americans.2: Irish and Scottish: adopted for any of several Irish and Scottish Gaelic names based on bán ‘white fair’ (see <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Bain">Bain</a> 1 <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/McElwain">McElwain</a>) or fionn ‘fair’ (see <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Finn">Finn</a> 1). The English surname has been Gaelicized in Ireland as de Faoite.3: Americanized form (translation into English) of various European surnames meaning ‘white’ for example German <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Weiss">Weiss</a> French <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Blanc">Blanc</a> Polish Białas (see <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Bialas">Bialas</a>) Slovenian <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Belec">Belec</a> or any other synonymous Slavic surname beginning with Bel- Bev- Biel- or Bil-.4: Native American: translation into English and shortening of a personal name composed of a word meaning ‘white’ such as Lakota Sioux Waŋbli Ska ‘White Eagle’ (see <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Whiteeagle">Whiteeagle</a>) or Tataŋka Ska ‘White Bull’ (see <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Whitebull">Whitebull</a>). In many cases however this surname was probably chosen because it is a very common English surname in North America.

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