LITTLEFIELD
Littlefield is a surname of English origin, recognised as a toponymic name that identifies a person with a particular landscape feature. The name is formed from the Old English words lytel – meaning “little” – and feld, meaning “open country” or “field”. It is therefore a descriptive surname that would have originally been applied to a person who lived near or possessed a small field, or, less frequently, to someone of modest stature. The term is recorded in early medieval documents as a locational marker associated with settlements and small patches of arable land.
According to the County of Kent records, the name derives from an ancient hundred called Littlefield in that county, a subdivision of a shire that had its own court. In the 16th century, individuals bearing the name appear in Hampshire and Kent: Richard Littlefield was christened at Titchfield in 1563, and William Littlefield was recorded at Odiham in 1564. These instances provide the earliest documentation of the surname in parish registers, confirming its use in this part of England from the middle of the sixteenth century and probably earlier.
The Littlefield coat of arms, granted to the family in the late Tudor period, is described as: “Vert on a chevron argent between three garbs or, as many boys' heads couped proper.” The crest is “On a garb or, a bird argent, in the beak an ear of wheat vert.” These heraldic elements illustrate the family’s connection to the land and to agricultural life, reflecting the original topographic nature of the surname.
In later centuries, the surname spread beyond England. Records show that the first bearers arrived in the American colonies during the early colonial period, with the name appearing in Virginia. As settlers moved westward, Littlefield families settled in the southern states and the Midwest, eventually reaching a wide distribution across the United States. In Britain, the name remains most common in the South East, particularly within Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire. In Canada and Australia, it is found predominantly in Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, New South Wales and Western Australia, reflecting patterns of emigration from the British Isles.
During the recent centuries the name has retained its status as a common English surname; it features within the top five hundred most frequent surnames in the United Kingdom. Variants such as Littfield, Litfield and Littlefild appear in spelling records, but all are recognised as alternate forms of the same name. The name has also occasionally been combined with other surnames to produce hyphenated forms, for example Littlefield‑Smith or Littlefield‑Jones.
Overall, the surname Littlefield signifies a clear link to a small tract of land and to the traditional English landscape. Its historical records affirm its Anglo‑Saxon roots, its early medieval usage, and its continued presence in contemporary English‑speaking societies.
Typical given names associated with the Littlefield surname
Male
- Alan
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
- Scott
- Simon
Female
- Alison
- Carla
- Dawn
- Elizabeth
- Hayley
- Helen
- Jane
- Jennifer
- Kelly
- Lisa
- Mary
- Patricia
- Rebecca
- 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 Littlefield in...
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There are approximately 748 people named Littlefield in the UK. That makes it roughly the 9,232nd most common surname in Britain. Around 11 in a million people in Britain are named Littlefield.
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
