White started out as a nickname for a person with white or fair hair, or a pale complexion. An alternative meaning is someone who lived in a place such as White in Devon. A number of French Huguenot families called Blanc changed their name to White on arriving in England after fleeing oppression in 1685 following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Famous celebrities named White include singer Barry White and British chef Marco Pierre White.
The earliest occurrence of the White surname in our family history documents is from 1393, and we currently have 6,194,470 records where White appears. Here are a few more facts to get you started…
5810 Whites were recorded as working in domestic service in the 1901 Census.
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