This surname is of English origin. It can be either a topographical name for someone who lived by a clearing or patch of pasture land, derived from the Middle English 'thwaite' (Old Norse 'thueit') meaning 'a meadow', or, 'piece of land', or, locational name from any of the various places named with this word, in Northern England, Norfolk and Suffolk. The name dates back to the early 13th Century (see below). Further recordings include Ralph de Thweit (Twaeit) (1221), 'Curia Regis Rolls of Norfolk', and John del Thwaytes (1300) 'Writs of Parliament'. Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Thwaites, Twittie Twatt, Twait(e)s, Tweats, Twite. One Jane Twite, daughter of John, was christened at Holme Hale on the January 9th 1614. John, son of John Twittie was christened at St. Michael Coslany, Norwich on the March 25th 1632, and Thomas Twitty married Abigail Jacocke on the 14th December 1682 at St. Katherine by the Tower, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ralph del Thweit, which was dated 1206, Pipe Rolls of Norfolk, during the reign of King John, known as 'Lackland', 1199 - 1216. 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.