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Surname Etymology and Meaning of WHITTAKER

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Surname meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

(origin: Local) The north part of a graveyard allotted to the poor was called whittaker, from wite, a penalty, and acre,--a place of burial for criminals. A culprit who could not discharge the penalty or wite became a "witetheow," and was buried in the wite-acre. Bailey defines Whittaker "the north-east part of a flat or shoal--the middle ground."

Source: An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import (1857).