Little (surname)

Little is a surname in the English language. The name is 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 World War II.

Little

"lȳtle," an Old Anglo-Saxon term for little things
Gender	Unisex
Language(s)	English
Origin
Language(s)	Old English (OE), Middle English (ME)
Word/name	lȳtel (OE), littel (ME)
Meaning	"little"

People

Names held by several people

• Andrew Little (disambiguation), several people
• Angela Little (disambiguation), several people
• Anna Little (disambiguation), several people
• Brian Little (disambiguation), several people
• Bryan Little (disambiguation), several people
• David Little (disambiguation), several people
• Frank Little (disambiguation), several people
• George Little (disambiguation), several people
• Henry Little (disambiguation), several people
• Jack Little (disambiguation), several people
• James Little (disambiguation), several people
• Jason Little (disambiguation), several people
• John Little (disambiguation), several people
• Mark Little (disambiguation), several people
• Richard Little (disambiguation), several people
• Robert Little (disambiguation), several people
• Steve Little (disambiguation), several people
• Thomas Little (disambiguation), several people
• Walter Little (disambiguation), several people
• William Little (disambiguation), several people

Academics

• Elaine Marjory Little (1884–1974), Australian pathologist
• Elbert Luther Little, (1907 - 2004), American botanist
• Ian Little (economist), (1918–2012), British economist
• Stephen Little (born 1954), American Asian art scholar, museum administrator and artist

Businesspeople

• Arthur Dehon Little (1863–1935), American chemical engineer, founder of consulting company Arthur D. Little
• Jacob Little (1794–1865), American investor
• William Brian Little (1942-2000), American investor

Performers

• Ann Little (1891–1984), American silent film actress
• Annie Little, American singer
• Booker Little (1938–1961), American jazz trumpeter
• Carlo Little (1938–2005), British rock and roll drummer
• Cleavon Little (1939–1992), American film and theatre actor
• Jane Little (musician), American musician; bassist in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
• Ralf Little (born 1980), English actor and comedian
• Rich Little (born 1938), Canadian-American impressionist and voice actor
• Syd Little (born 1942), English comedian
• Tasmin Little (born 1965), English violinist

Politicians

• Betty Little (born 1940), New York senator
• Joseph James Little (1841–1913), US representative from New York, printer and publisher
• Patrick Little (1884-1963), Irish politician
• Russell M. Little (1809–1891), New York politician
• Tandy Little (1921–2015), American politician
• Zeb Little, a Democratic member of the Alabama Senate

Sportspeople

• Chad Little (born 1963), NASCAR driver
• Emily Little (born 1994), Australian gymnast
• Floyd Little (born 1942), American professional footballer
• Grady Little (born 1950), former Major League Baseball manager
• Ian Little (footballer) (born 1973), Scottish football player and manager
• Kim Little (born 1990), Scottish association footballer
• Lawson Little (1910–1968), American professional golfer
• Nassir Little (born 2000), American basketball player
• Neil Little (born 1971), Canadian former ice hockey player
• Nicky Little (born 1976), Fijian rugby union player
• Ricky Little (born 1989), Scottish footballer
• Sally Little (born 1951), South African LPGA golfer
• Sam Little (golfer) (born 1975), English professional golfer
• Tori Groves-Little (born 2000), Australian rules footballer

Writers

• Bentley Little (born 1960), American author
• Frances Little (1863–1941), pseudonym of American author Fannie Caldwell
• Jane Little (born 1972), English broadcaster and writer
• Jean Little (1932–2020), Canadian author
• Paul D. Little (born 1972), American author

Others

• 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 Little (1925–1965), better known as Malcolm X
• Samuel Little, (born 1940), 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
• Denton Little, protagonist of the Denton Little book series by Lance Rubin

See also

• Chicken Little (disambiguation)
• Clan Little, a Scottish Border clan
• Henny Penny (disambiguation)
• List of people known as the Little
• Lyttle, a surname

References

1. Learn about the family history of your surname, Ancestry.com, retrieved 22 February 2011, which cited: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4, for the surname "Little".
2. Reaney, Percy Hilde (1995), Wilson, Richard Middlewood (ed.), A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 281, ISBN 0-19-863146-4.