Updated June 9, 2019

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Family name origins & meanings

  • English : of disputed origin. Reaney rejects the traditional explanation that it is a nickname derived from early modern English fitch ‘polecat’, as this word is not recorded in this form until the 16th century, whereas the byname or surname Fitchet is found as early as the 12th century. He proposes instead that the name may be from Old French fiche ‘stake’ (used as a boundary marker), but with the sense ‘iron point’, and so a metonymic occupational name for a workman who used an iron-pointed implement.
  • The Fitches of CT, a wealthy and prominent family, were established in Norwalk, CT, before 1657 by Thomas Fitch (1612–1704). His great-grandson Thomas Fitch (c. 1700–74) was a lawyer and colonial governor of CT.