This interesting and unusual name is of medieval English origin and is a dialectal variant of Ketteringham, a locational name from a place so called in Norfolk. The earliest recording of this placename appears as "aet cytringan" in the Saxon Charters of 956, as "Keteringham" circa 1060, in the Wills of Norfolk, as "Keterincham" and "Kitrincham" in the Domesday Book of that county, and finally, as this place is spelt today as Ketteringham in 1263. The derivation is from a folk personal name the Old English pre 7th Century "Cytringas" and "Cytringa" "ham", meaning water meadow of Cytringa's people. Amongst the earliest recordings in Norfolk, are, John Kitteringham, christened on April 29th 1739, and Summerfield Kitteringham the son of William and Elizabeth Kitteringham, born on 29th July 1765, both in Northwold, Norfolk. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Agnts de Keteringham, which was dated 1273, in the "Hundred Rolls of Norfolk", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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