GITTENS
Gittens is a surname of English and Germanic origin, chiefly found within the British Isles. The name is traditionally associated with the English language, Christian faith and the country of England.
The origin of the surname is best understood through its connection with the medieval given name Gittin, a diminutive of Gilbert. The name Gilbert itself is derived from the Old Germanic elements gisil, meaning “pledge” or “hostage”, and berht, meaning “bright” or “famous”. Consequently, the surname Gittens can be interpreted to signify “son of Gittin” or “descendant of Gilbert”, indicating a familial link to an ancestor named Gittin or Gilbert.
The surname has been recorded in a wide array of spellings, including Gidden, Giddens, Gidding, Giddings, Gedding, Geddings, Gittens, Gittins, Gutans, Guttans, Gutten, Guttens, Quiten, Quitten, Yetten, Yeotten, and many others. Such variation reflects the limited standardisation of spelling in earlier periods and the influence of regional dialects.
Locational origins are evident in the English place names Gidding in Huntingdonshire and Gedding in Suffolk, both documented in the Domesday Book of 1086 as “Geddinge”. The toponym derives from the pre‑7th‑century Anglo‑Saxon and Germanic personal name Gydda or Gudda. The addition of the Old English suffix -ingas conveys “people of” or “family of”, so the place name literally means “the place of the Gudda people”. People who migrated from these locales often adopted the place-name as a surname.
The earliest extant record of the family name is that of John de Geddingge, dated 1273 in the Hundred Rolls of Suffolk, during the reign of King Edward I. This document provides the snapshot that the name was in use by the late thirteenth century.
Subsequent examples of early use include Thomas Giddens, christened on 13 December 1640 at Abington Pigotts, Cambridge; Elizabeth Geddins, christened on 11 August 1683 at St. Botolph’s, Bishopsgate, London; and John Gutten, who married Mary Bayley at Topsham, Devon, on 17 October 1710.
In the United Kingdom, the surname is predominantly concentrated in the southern counties of Surrey, Devon, Wiltshire and East Sussex, with relatively lower frequencies in the north.
Outside the United Kingdom, the surname Gittens is chiefly associated with the Caribbean, especially Barbados and Jamaica. Historical records suggest that the name arrived in these islands during the 17th‑century, possibly linked to a French Huguenot family from Angoumois. The diaspora of former Barbadian immigrants has extended the name to the United States, where it is most commonly found in the states of New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina, and to a lesser extent in South Carolina, California, Georgia, Wisconsin and Texas.
Given its varied spellings and the east‑west migration of its bearers, the surname embodies a rich linguistic heritage that spans English, French and, to a lesser degree, African linguistic influences, yet the core meaning centred on the original Germanic elements persists across all contexts.
Typical given names associated with the Gittens surname
Male
- Andrew
- Aubrey
- Christopher
- Cortez
- David
- Ian
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Richard
- Robert
- Stephen
Female
- Claire
- Frances
- Jacqueline
- Joycelyn
- Julie
- Lisa
- Margaret
- Mary
- Nadine
- Naomi
- Nicola
- Sarah
- Stella
- Yvonne
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 Gittens in...
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Morse
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There are approximately 1,091 people named Gittens in the UK. That makes it roughly the 6,905th most common surname in Britain. Around 17 in a million people in Britain are named Gittens.
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Gittens
- Jon Gittens - Football player (1964 to 2019)
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.