Whittington Family Research

Researchers of the Whittington family face difficulties tracing their ancestry due to the many different family groups carrying the Whittington surname.  When surnames began to be used, people adopted occupations (Baker, Smith, Tailor, etc.), place names (Hill, Stone, etc.), paternal lineage (johnson, O'Malley, etc.), physical characteristics (Bigg, Little, Red, Short, Swift, etc.), geographic features (Atwood, Lake, Meadows, etc.), place names, animals and other things as their family identifier (surname).  Early Whittingtons appear to have been assigned that family name based on the place they lived to identify them for census and tax records.

A Johannes de Whityngton was recorded in the 'Poll Tax' of the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1379 and an Isabella de Wityngton was recorded in the same year in this ancient document.  A Gloucester village is recorded in the 1086 as 'Whitune', and a translation is 'the place' (tun) of the 'Hwita' (white), perhaps referring to a land owner named White or perhaps a feature of the land.

England has been inhabited for hundreds of thousands of years, with numerous people groups from all over the world invading and fighting over the land and leaving descendants there.  The Domesday Book, commissioned in 1086 by William the Conqueror, records names like Whaddon, Whaddon, Whelp, Whipton, White, Whitley, Whitney and Whitton.  The researcher is directed to The National Archives to search for instances of Whittingtons and variants over the years.

The Whittington family names (surnames) may have been the same, but their ancestries were very different and the fact that they shared the same surname and often lived near one another has resulted in many errors in genealogies.  Be especially careful in your research – conjecture, while sometimes useful, is not proof.  Don't accept someone else's genealogy without verifying and be careful drawing conclusions based on proximity of location and dates.  See Genealogical Proof.

DNA, Y-chromosome DNA in particular, provides answers we couldn't get before.  Our Whittington DNA Project, though only having a small sample of Whittington families, currently shows five very different, ancient lineages.  Please use this new evidence to assist in verifying or dismissing lineages.

To further complicate matters, various spellings have been found for the Whittington name, including: Vitten, Vittington, Vytienson, Wetterling, Whettington, Whiddingtina, Whiddington, Whidenton, Whitatton, Whitenton, Whitington, Whittanking, Whittenton, Whittingham, Whittingking, Whittington, Whityington, Whyttington, Whytyngton, Withington, Withingtune, Witinton, Witney, Wittington and Wityngton.

If you are a Whittington male, please consider joining the Whittington Surname DNA Project at Family Tree DNA as your contribution can help both your research and that of others who might be related.

Grief Whittington researchers:

See Carol Whittington's excellent research into the Family of John Dalton Whittington, grandson of Grief Whittington, Revolutionary Soldier, and the eldest son of Elisha Whittington and Melina Dalton.

Links to Reference Material of Early England: