Variations of the Surname

Spelling Variations

We began our genealogy research looking into the name “Titheradge” and at first steadfastly ignored all other spellings. After a few months we learnt that back in the 18th century spelling was poor and that in fact the “Tyth.” and “Tith.” were frequently interchanged and someone who could not spell had used “.adge” instead of “.idge” and “Tid.” instead of “Tith.” and hence we realised we needed to widen our research to include all spellings. So we began our research again, this time recording all variations of the name.

If your surname is Titheradge or Titheridge we are sure that you are already aware of the variations that get made of your name in these modern times when people can spell. How often do you get asked “How do you spell that?” Knowing this information it is not surprising that variations of the name appear in historical documents. If you are searching records where the surname has been transcribed (such as census records) a whole host of variations can be found where the difficulty of reading the writing adds to the possible variations including variations such as Titridge or Fitheridge or Litheridge or Sitheridge.

To date we have found over 40 different spelling variations in the records, but as far as we are aware only eight versions of the name survive today. In some of the early records the same individual’s surname was spelt differently at his christening, marriage, death and even at the birth of each child!

Spelling variations of the surname include:

Teatheredge	Tithegade	Tithrige
Teatheridge	Titheradge	Tithuridge
Tedridge	Titherage	Titridge
Tetheradge	Titheredge	Titteridge
Tetherege	Tithereg	Tutheridge
Tetheridge	Titherege	Tytherage
Tethridge	Titherich	Tythereg
Tetridge	Titheridge	Tytherege
Thitridge	Titherige	Tytheridge
Tidbridge	Titherydge	Tytherige
Tideridge	Tithiridge	Tytheryge
Tidgrege	Tithradge	Tythridge
Tidridge	Tithrage	Tythuridge
Tietheradge	Tithredge	Tythyride
Titeridge	Tithridge	Tythyridge
	Tithriedge	Tifferedge

The Spellings that Survive

World wide there are individuals living with the following versions of the surname (listed in order of popularity)

• Titheridge
• Titheradge
• Tidridge
• Tytheridge
• Teatheredge
• Tutheridge
• Tedridge
• Titherage

In England the surname spelt Titheridge remains the most common version, being 3 times more common than Titheradge. In the 1998 telephone directories for Britain there were 136 entries of the family name. Of these 65% were spelt Titheridge, 22% were spelt Titheradge, 7% spelt Tidridge and 4% were spelt Tytheridge. Looking at the births registered in St Catherine’s House up to 1973, these follow an identical pattern.

The Origins of the Surviving Surnames

There are eight variations of the family name which survive today. The main family name is Titheridge and the origin of the others can, in most cases, be traced to one couple who spelt their name differently.

Titheridge
Most of the family members have the surname Titheridge. This was the name used by the Titheridges of Cheriton and passed on to their descendants, which account for a lot of family members, including the prolific Titheridges of both Droxford area and Alverstoke area in Hampshire.

Titheradge
The name Titheradge came about by one of two means.
a)  In 1744 Daniel Tytheridge and Rebecca Baker married in Portsea St. Mary. All the known 574 descendants of this couple spell their name Titheradge.
b) The other family group with the Titheradge name are in Australia and are descended from Frederick Titheridge, who was born in Droxford in 1842. Frederick joined the navy, spelling his surname Titheridge, but when he disembarked in Australia in 1880 wrote his name Titheradge, as do all his descendants.

Tidridge
The name Tidridge appeared in the nineteenth century. William Titheridge and Priscilla Pargent had a son Henry who was born in Bishops Waltham in 1815. He and his wife Ann had eleven children. Although he was born as a Titheridge his surname became written as Tidridge, and this is the surname he passed on to all his children and future generations.

Tytheridge
There are two sources of the surname Tytheridge
a) William Henry Walter Titheridge, one of the children of Robert Titheridge and Lucy Ann Holdup, moved to London sometime prior to 1845. He was a very wealthy gentleman. He spelt his name Tytheridge as did all his descendants, so producing one of the two family groups who spell their surname Tytheridge.
b) The second family group appears to be descended from John Tetheridge / Tutheridge who appears in Sundridge Kent in 1797. His descendants spell their name either Tytheridge or Tutheridge. These Tytheridges appear in Chislehurst, Bromley and Woolwich from 1870.

Teatheredge
The first Teatheredge appears around 1812 in Surrey with the surname of family members appearing with varying spellings including Tetheridge and Titheridge.

Tutheridge
The Tutheridge surname is from John Tetheridge / Tutheridge who appears in Sundridge Kent in 1797. His descendants spell their name either Tytheridge or Tutheridge. This is a very uncommon version of the family name.

Tedridge
The name Tedridge is a spelling variation of Tidridge. A spelling error was made on registering the birth of Ernest Tidridge in 1912 and now all his descendants use the surname Tedridge. This is a very uncommon version of the family name.

Titherage
There are a small group of Titherages in USA they appear to have descended from Hubert Titheridge who emigrated to Canada in 1881 and his son James. On entry to the USA the surname was spelt Titherage which has been passed on. This is a very uncommon version of the family name.

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