Recorded as Gettin, Getting, Gettings, Gething, Gittins, Gitting and others, this interesting surname is of Welsh origin. It derives from Gutynused a nickname from the personal name Gruddydd or Griffith, meaning in effect "strong grip" plus "udd" meaning lord. The surname can also occasionally be traced back to the byname "Cethin" meaning dusky or swarthy. Surnames in Wales were very late becoming established, some as late as the 18th century, although they are often found in their modern forms at least by the early 17th Century in the surviving church registers of Greater London. As examples we have George Gittings recorded as marrying Joane Austen on January 27th 1609 at St James Clerkenwell, nearby in the county of Kent Jaine Gittinges was christened at Chevening on the March 14th 1617 and David Gettings, the son of Thomas Gettings, was christened on August 5th 1649 at Saint Giles Cripplegate, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Eynon Gethin. This was dated 1332, in the "Chirkland Records", during the reign of King Edward 111rd of England, known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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