When Ruth Sperry White was born on 16 July 1901, in Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, United States, her father, James Clarence White, was 46 and her mother, Emma Alice Sperry, was 31. She lived in Radnor, Radnor Township, Delaware, Ohio, United States in 1940 and Hindman, Knott, Kentucky, United States for about 1 years. She died on 22 November 1983, in Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, United States, at the age of 82, and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, United States.
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1855–1922 Male
1869–1956 Female
1901–1983 Female
1903–1986 Female
1905–1982 Male
1916–2003 Female
English: from Middle English white, wit (Old English hwīt ‘white’), hence a nickname for someone with white hair or a pale complexion. In some cases it is perhaps from a Middle English survival of the Old English personal name Hwīta, a short form of names in Hwīt- (from hwīt ‘white’). The name may also be topographic, referring to someone who lived by a bend or curve in a river or road (from Old English wiht ‘bend’), the source of the placename of Great Whyte in Ramsey, Huntingdonshire (compare Wight ). This name is also a variant of Wight . The surname White is also very common among African Americans.
Irish and Scottish: adopted for any of several Irish and Scottish Gaelic names based on bán ‘white, fair’ (see Bain 1, McElwain ) or fionn ‘fair’ (see Finn 1). The English surname has been Gaelicized in Ireland as de Faoite.
Americanized form (translation into English) of various European surnames meaning ‘white’, for example German Weiss , French Blanc , Polish Białas (see Bialas ), Slovenian Belec , or any other synonymous Slavic surname beginning with Bel-, Bev-, Biel- or Bil-.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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