The Yiddish female name Witl (Wittel, Vitl, Vitte) apparently arose as a substitute for Chaya. Both names derive >from "life"; Chaya >from the Hebrew (Chai) and Witl >from the Latin (Vita). Can anyone shed some light as to 1) when this usage became common and 2) why it occurred among speakers of Germanic languages? If the name can be traced back to the Sephardic exodus >from Spain, what were its Spanish roots?
