Origin and popularity of the name WHITFIELD

Origin

Whitfield : English: habitational name from any of various places called Whitfield for example in Derbyshire Gloucestershire Kent Northamptonshire and Northumberland or Whitefield in Lancashire and the Isle of Wight named with Old English hwīt ‘white’ + feld ‘open country’ probably because of their chalky soil.

Frome : English: habitational name from any of various places so called such as Frome (Somerset) Frome Saint Quintin Frome Vauchurch Frome Whitfield in Stinsford the lost Frome Billet in West Stafford (all Dorset) Bishops Frome Canon Frome Castle Frome and Prior's Frome and Larport (formerly Frome) both in Mordiford (all Herefordshire). Or a topographic name from the rivers on which these places are located or simply a name for someone living beside a river of this name which is probably cognate with Welsh ffraw ‘fair fine brisk’. Compare Frampton.

Parmley : English (mainly Cumberland and Durham): presumably a habitational name perhaps from a post-medieval form of Parmentley in Whitfield (Northumberland) which is recorded as Parmaly in 1698. The placename appears to derive from Middle English permain ‘pear’ (Old French parmain permain) + leie ‘clearing meadow’ (Old English lēah ‘woodland clearing’).

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Last name frequency

Geographic distribution of the 28,506 individuals with the name WHITFIELD on Geneanet.

This last name in the family trees

See below the Geneanet members' family trees which contain the last name WHITFIELD