ARMITAGE
Armitage is a surname of both English and French provenance. It descends from the Old French word hermitage, denoting a secluded dwelling, and from the Old English compounds ea and mearce, meaning a river‑bank meadow or a boundary beside a stream. The confluence of French and Anglo‑Saxon linguistic roots is reflected in the variety of early spellings recorded in medieval documents, including Armitage, Armytage, Armatidge, Hermitage, and Ermitage.
The earliest known instance of the name is that of Richard de Ermitage, witnessed in the Assize Court Rolls of Cheshire in 1259 during the reign of King Henry III. Subsequent examples illustrate the name’s geographical spread: Hugh del Hermytage is documented in Warwickshire in 1296; Willelmus del Ermytache appears in Yorkshire in 1379; and John de Armitage is recorded in Sheffield, Yorkshire, in 1423. By the late sixteenth century, William Armitage, rector of Billingford, Norfolk, is noted in ecclesiastical records. The surname is most strongly associated with the north of England, in particular with West Yorkshire, where many bearers have been linked to Armitage Bridge near Huddersfield since the thirteenth century.
In the early modern period, members of the Armitage family migrated to the New World. Henry Armitage departed the Barbados Islands aboard the ship Society for Boston in March 1678, while Enoch Armitage of Wooldale, Yorkshire, settled in America sometime after 1677. In the United States, the Armitage surname remained concentrated around Delaware and the Chesapeake area, with four brothers arriving from Liverpool in 1755. In contemporary times, the name can be found in Canada, Mexico, Belize, the Philippines, Australia and across the rest of the Commonwealth, reflecting the global dispersion of emigrants who carried the name abroad.
The coat of arms traditionally associated with the ArmitAGE family features a red field with a lion's head erased between three silver cross crosslets. This heraldic symbol reinforces the martial and pastoral heritage implied by the surname’s etymology.
Variants of the name that have appeared over the centuries include Armistead, Amitage, Ermitage, Armatage, Armettes, Ermetage, Armstets and Ermsted. These forms derive from either the French hermitage, the Anglo‑Saxon earmsted—a compound suggesting a border or defence position—or a combination of the Old English earm ‘shore’ and stede ‘place’.
In contemporary Britain, the surname is most common in northern regions such as Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire, and it remains a mid‑level common surname overall. According to the 2011 UK census, it ranked as the 269th most frequent surname in the country. The name’s continued use across continents underscores its enduring link to the places and linguistic traditions from which it originated, offering a tangible connection to the medieval English and French landscapes that shaped its history.
Typical given names associated with the Armitage surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
Female
- Christine
- Claire
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Helen
- Julie
- Margaret
- Mary
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Armitage in...
Braille
⠁⠗⠍⠊⠞⠁⠛⠑
Morse
.-.-.--..-.---..
Semaphore
There are approximately 11,171 people named Armitage in the UK. That makes it the 819th most common surname in Britain. Around 172 in a million people in Britain are named Armitage.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Armitage
- Richard Armitage - Actor
- Simon Armitage - Poet, playwright, novelist
- Iain Armitage - American child actor
- Alison Armitage - Actress
- Peter Armitage - Actor (1940 to 2018)
- Steffon Armitage - Rugby union player
- Delon Armitage - Rugby union player
- Kenneth Armitage - Sculptor (1916 to 2002)
- Peter Armitage - Statistician
- Judy Armitage - Biochemist
- Guy Armitage - Rugby union and rugby league football player
- Richard Armitage - Talent agent (1928 to 1986)
- Robert Perceval Armitage - Governor of Cyprus (1906 to 1990)
- Heather Armitage - Sprinter
- Tom Armitage - Cricket player of England. (1848 to 1922)
- Robert Armitage - Royal Navy officer (1905 to 1982)
- Jack Armitage - Football player
- Cecil Hamilton Armitage - (1869 to 1933)
- Alan Armitage - Cricketer
- Marcus Armitage -
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.