This page is historical. Follow this link for the current version.
Dictionary of Medieval Names
from European Sources

Lettice f. Latin laetitia 'joy, gladness, delight'.

The English diminutive Lete is witnessed in 1379 in the relational byname Letesoñ (WRYPT1 p. 318).

England
Latin
1246 Lecie PSS-II p. 6; 1279–80 Letice (dat) WaHR-SK p. 57; 1340xc1450 Leticia (nom) CovGuild-1 p. 1; 1379 Leticia (nom) WRYPT1 p. 8; 1381 Leticia (nom) Suffolk1381 p. 75, Letitia (nom) ibid. p. 118, Liticia (nom) ibid. p. 81; 1588 Letecia (nom) RegBeb p. 119
1377 Lecia (nom) FenPT-2 p. 6
Early Modern English
1530 Lettes LIWill-III p. 50; 1531 Letice SaxhamSf p. 122, Lettice ibid. p. 127; 1540 Lettis StAnthonlin p. 2; 1543 Letys BarnstapleBap p. 3; 1546 Lettes ibid. p. 5; 1553 Letys ibid. p. 8; 1560 Lettis HAmar-vol9 p. 67; 1562 Lettys BarnstapleBap p. 12; 1575 Lettice RegBath p. 3; 1578 Lettice BUmar-vol9 p. 148; 1582 Lettice DEmar-vol2 p. 7; 1584 Lettes BEmar-vol2 p. 130; 1585 Lettisse ibid. p. 3; 1586 Lettis RegPat p. 36; 1591 Lettice bruton1 p. 51; 1592 Lettis StAnthonlin p. 35; 1597 Lettice DEmar-vol2 p. 34, bruton1 p. 123; 1598/9 Lettice RegPat p. 42; 1599 Lettise ibid. p. 114
France
Latin
1180 Leticia (nom) RotScaNor p. 33, Leticie (gen) ibid. p. 32
1135 Lecelina (nom) clairvaux-12thc 7; 1147 Lescelina (abl) ibid. 14; 1179 Lecelina (abl) ibid. 176
Latvia
Latin
1300 Leticien (gen) RigSB 852
Cite as: A. Brown, S.L. Uckelman. "Lettice". In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2020, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2020/1/name/Lettice.