Little

Little

Little is a surname in the English language. The name is ultimately derived from the Middle English littel, and the Old English lȳtel, which mean "little". In some cases the name was originally a nickname for a little man. In other cases, the name was used to distinguish the younger of two bearers of the same personal name. Early records of the name include: Litle, in 972; Litle, in about 1095; and le Lytle, in 1296. The surname has absorbed several non English-language surnames. For example, Little is sometimes a translation of the Irish Ó Beagáin, meaning "descendant of Beagán". Little can also be a translation of the French Petit and Lepetit, as well as other surnames in various languages with the same meaning ("little"), especially the German name Klein during WWII.

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Famous quotes containing the word little:

    “A man assumes that a woman’s refusal is just part of a game. Or, at any rate, a lot of men assume that. When a man says no, it’s no. When a woman says no, it’s yes, or at least maybe. There is even a joke to that effect. And little by little, women begin to believe in this view of themselves.”
    —Erica Jong (b. 1942)

    “I’ll give my jewels for a set of beads,
    My gorgeous palace for a hermitage,
    ...
    And my large kingdom for a little grave,
    A little, little grave, an obscure grave.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “A novel is what you dream in your night sleep. A novel is
    not waking thoughts although it is written and thought
    with waking thoughts. But really a novel goes as
    dreams go in sleeping at night and some dreams are like
    anything and some dreams are like something and some
    dreams change and some dreams are quiet and some dreams
    are not. And some dreams are just what any one would
    do only a little different always just a little
    different and that is what a novel is.”
    —Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)