The name WHITTA
Early references
The earliest is a signature "+ Wita episcopus" from a grant of 64AD by Wulfhere, Marcian King to Bernferd, one of the King's kinsmen, and another pre-conquest example is Tovi Hwita (Tovi the White) about 1024AD."Hwita Hatte was a keeper of bees in Haethfelda"
where Hwita was a forename which later perhaps became a surname. On the other hand, the origin may lie in occupation - a Whiter was a whitewasher, painting buildings, or from the name for a dresser of White leather - a Whittawer.Spelling
So several possibilities are there, all roughly based on the Old English word for white. Alternative spellings include Whiter, Whitter, Whittoe, Wittow, Whitto, Whittoo, Whitta, and Wheater.Early history of the family
It is thought that the twelfth century saw an immigration of the family from Flanders, where the word for white was Witto; one was recorded at the court of Charlemagne in the 9th century. The people from Flanders split into two groups; one settled in Cornwall and the other in South Wales under the leadership of Wizo, who was responsible for building what is now known as Wiston Castle, now reduced to only a bank and ditch which formed the bailey and a fairly well preserved Norman archwayin a ruined keep.Further information about the early history of the family may be obtained from Rex Whitta who provided the whole of this data. You can contact him here