Leitch
A Scottish surname most likely tied to the word for a healer or physician, though some families are linked to the place-name Leith.
The #9,976 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 95,469 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The main explanation connects Leitch with 'leech,' an old word for a physician or healer, from Old English and related Germanic forms meaning 'doctor' or 'healer.' That makes it an occupational surname in origin. Some older sources also connect certain Scottish families with the place-name Leith in Midlothian, so the name may have more than one historical source.
History
The name has long been established in Scotland and appears in historical records under spellings such as Leith and Leitch. One 19th-century source notes an old and distinguished Scottish family of Leith, while another treats Leitch as a form related to Leech. In modern usage it is found mainly in Scotland and in countries shaped by Scottish migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older English, a 'leech' was not just a worm but a doctor, which is why surnames like Leitch can point to healing rather than medicine in the modern sense.
From the historical record
“now at Loton, in the above-named county. LEITCH. See Leech. LEITH. " The surname of Leitli is of great antiquity in Scotland, and those who bore it held, in a remote era, vast posses- sions, including the barony of Eestalrig, and others in the shire of Mid-Lothian, and territory of Leith, whence, it is pre- sumed…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom