Recorded in several modern spelling forms including Tyrwhitt, Truett, and Truitt, this is a surname of English origins. It is locational from a village called Trewhitt in the county of Northumberland. First recorded in the year 1115 as Tirwit, and later in 1236 as Tyrwit, it derives from the pre 7th century Olde English or possibly Norse words 'tyri-pvit' meaning the meadow (pvit) in the resinous woods, presumably a reference to fir or pine forests. Locational surnames are usually 'from' names. That is to say they were surnames given to people after they left their original homes to move elsewhere. The easiest way to identify a stranger was to call him, or sometimes her, by the name of the place from whence they came. Spelling being at best erratic and local dialects very thick, often lead to the development of 'sounds like' forms. In this case early examples of the surname recordings taken from surviving authentic records include: John de Tyrewhyt, a local land owner and witness at the assize court of Northumberland in 1256, William Tyrwhit of Gloucester in 1383, and William Truwet in the register of the Guild of Corpus Christi for the city of York, in the year 1515.

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