 It is a patronymic name from the Old English pre-7th Century 'Hwita' meaning 'the white' or 'fair one'.The surname first appears in documentation from the late 11th Century and has a number of variant forms ranging from 'Whiteing', and 'Whitting' to 'Witting'.However, the name was first found in Devon where it was seated both before and after the Norman Conquest.