Whitwell

English

Etymology

From Old English hwīt (“white”) + well.

Proper noun

Whitwell (countable and uncountable, plural Whitwells)

1. A number of places in England:
   1. A village and civil parish in Bolsover district, Derbyshire (OS grid ref SK5276).
   2. A village in St Paul's Walden parish, North Hertfordshire district, Hertfordshire (OS grid ref TL1821).
   3. A village in Niton and Whitwell parish, Isle of Wight (OS grid ref SZ5278).
   4. A locality in Reepham parish, Broadland district, Norfolk (OS grid ref TG0921).
      • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 331, about Reepham, Norfolk:

        The east of the market place is dominated by the tall tower of St Michael's Church, which strangely is not the parish church of Reepham but of neighbouring Whitwell. At one time three churches stood in the churchyard; Reepham's Church of St Mary is joined by its choir vestry to St Michael's, and the third church belonged to Hackford, but has been a ruin since 1543.

   5. A hamlet and civil parish in North Yorkshire, previously in Hambleton district (OS grid ref SE2899).
   6. A small village and civil parish in Rutland (OS grid ref SK9208).
2. A city in Marion County, Tennessee, United States.
3. A habitational surname from Old English.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Whitwell is the 34618^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 653 individuals. Whitwell is most common among White (93.42%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Whitwell”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 3, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.