This interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and an occupational surname for someone who worked in a kitchen, or for a cook, particularly those who worked in the kitchens of a monastery. The name derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "cycen(e)", kitchen, from the Latin "cucina", in Middle English "kychene". Job descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and gradually became hereditary. The development of the surname includes the following examples: Nicholas atte Kechene (1327, Somerset); Robert der Kychin (1359, Yorkshire); and Thomas Kytchyng (1513, ibid.), while the modern forms range from Kitchen, Kitchin(g), Ketchen and Ketchin to Kitchenes, Kitch(e)man and Kitchin(g)man. The marriage of Lancelott Kitching and Sarah Loseby was recorded at St. James', Duke Place, London, on November 3rd 1681. A Coat of Arms granted to a Kitching family of Herefordshire depicts, on a white shield, a chevron between three bustards, red. The Crest is a green wivern on a gold ducal coronet. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry atte Kychene, which was dated 1311, in the "Parliamentary Writs", Suffolk, during the reign of Edward 11, known as "Edward of Caernafon", 1307 - 1327. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as 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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