Nickname
Whitehead surname meaning
An English nickname from Middle English whit + hed, white head, for fair or white hair; also occasional Irish or German translation forms.
The short story
Whitehead is an English descriptive nickname from Middle English whit, white, and hed, head, for someone with white or very fair hair. A rarer reading uses whit plus hod, meaning white hood. Irish families sometimes took Whitehead by mistaken translation of O Ceanndubhain (little black-headed one), and German Weisskopf or Weisshaupt could also be anglicized the same way in American records. Whithead and Whited are shortened forms. Nickname is the catalog type, and the white-haired English sense is high confidence.
Also seen as: Whitehead, Whithead, Whited, Whytehead
Sources used
- Geneanet / DAFN entry for Whitehead (whit + hed; Irish Canavan mistranslation; Weisskopf)
- English nickname surname references for Whitehead
- Names2020_LastNames_RaceHispanic_Top1000.xlsx (2020 Census)