Little
Little is a surname in the English language. The name is ultimately derived from the Middle English littel,[1] and the Old English lȳtel, which mean "little".[2] In some cases the name was originally a nickname for a little man. In other cases, the name was used to distinguish the younger of two bearers of the same personal name.[1] Early records of the name include: Litle, in 972; Litle, in about 1095; and le Lytle, in 1296.[2] The surname has absorbed several non English-language surnames. For example, Little is sometimes a translation of the Irish Ó Beagáin, meaning "descendant of Beagán". Little can also be a translation of the French Petit and Lepetit, as well as other surnames in various languages with the same meaning ("little")[1], especially the German name Klein during WWII.
People with the surname
- Andrew Little (footballer), Northern Irish footballer currently playing for Rangers.
- Angela Little, American actress and model
- Bentley Little, American author
- Bingo Little
- Booker Little, American jazz trumpeter
- Brian Little (disambiguation)
- Bryan Little (disambiguation)
- Carlo Little
- Cleavon Little
- David Little (disambiguation)
- Donald Little, a Manitoba judge
- Floyd Little
- Frances Little
- Frank Little (priest), Australian archbishop
- Frank Little (unionist), U.S. trade unionist
- George Little (disambiguation)
- Gerry P. Little
- Grady Little
- Henry F. W. Little, American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient
- Ian Little
- Ian Little (footballer), Scottish football player and manager
- James Little
- Jason Little (cartoonist)
- Jason Little (rugby player)
- Jean Little
- Joan Little
- John Little (disambiguation)
- John N. Little
- Joseph James Little (1841–1913), U.S. representative from New York, American printer and publisher
- Ken Little (born 1947), a modernist American sculptor
- Lawson Little
- Little Jack Little
- Malcolm Little, later changed to Malcolm X
- Mark Little (Australian actor)
- Mark Little (Irish journalist)
- Neil Little
- Nicky Little, Fijian rugby union player
- Ralf Little
- Rich Little
- Robert A. Little
- Ross Little, English actor
- Stephen Little, American Asian art scholar, museum administrator and artist
- Steve Little (disambiguation)
- Stuart Little, a fictional mouse in many of E. B. White's short stories, and in some films
- Syd Little, English comedian
- Tasmin Little, English violinist
- Thomas Little, set decorator
- Tony Little
- Walter Little (politician), Canadian politician
- William Little (Pittsburgh mayor), politician in Pittsburgh
- William John Little, the doctor who identified cerebral palsy in children
- Zarah Little
See also
References
- ^ a b c Learn about the family history of your surname, Ancestry.com, http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx?, retrieved 22 February 2011 , which cited: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4 , for the surname "Little".
- ^ a b Reaney, Percy Hilde (1995), Wilson, Richard Middlewood, ed., A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 281, ISBN 0-19-8631464 .