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Little (surname)

{{Wiktionary|little}}

{{Infobox surname

| name = Little

| image = Beowulf - lytle.jpg

| caption = "lȳtle", an Old Anglo-Saxon term for little things

| pronunciation =

| gender = Unisex

| language = English

| languageorigin = Old English (OE), Middle English (ME)

| origin = lȳtel (OE), littel (ME)

| meaning = "little"

| family = Clan Little

| variant forms = Littell, Lytle, Lyttle

}}

Little is a surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Middle English littel and the Old English lȳtel, which means "little". 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. Early records of the name include: Litle, in 972; Litle, in about 1095; and le Lytle, in 1296.{{Citation |last=Reaney |first=Percy Hilde |editor-last=Wilson |editor-first=Richard Middlewood |title=A Dictionary of English Surnames |edition=3rd |year=1995 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-863146-4 |page=281 }}. 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"),{{citation |url=http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx? |title=Learn about the family history of your surname |publisher=Ancestry.com |accessdate=22 February 2011}}, which cited: {{citation |title=Dictionary of American Family Names |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-508137-4 }}, for the surname "Little". especially the German name Klein during World War II.

==People==

=Names held by several people=

=Academics=

=Businesspeople=

=Performers=

=Politicians=

=Sportspeople=

=Writers=

=Others=

  • Alice Little, (born 1990), Irish–American sex-worker and advocate
  • Donald Little, Canadian judge
  • Joan Little (born 1953), African-American acquitted of murder
  • Ken Little (born 1947), modernist American sculptor
  • Lewis Henry Little (1817–1862), Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War
  • Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, 1925–1965), Afro-American civil rights leader and Nation of Islam minister
  • Samuel Little (1940–2020), American serial killer
  • Tony Little (born 1956), American TV fitness personality

Fictional characters

  • Bingo Little, in P. G. Wodehouse stories
  • Chicken Little, also known as Henny Penny or Chicken Licken
  • Stuart Little, fictional mouse in many of E. B. White's short stories, and in some films

See also

References

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{{Little-surname}}

{{Surname}}

Category:English-language surnames

Category:Surnames from nicknames