At the time of the 1851 Census the surname (and its variants) was most commonly found in Lancashire (207), Cheshire (100) and in Middlesex & London (46).
During the period from 1841 to 1851, the number of carriers of the surname decreased in Cornwall, Hampshire, Suffolk and Gloucestershire. However, the surname is now more commonly found in counties like Dorset and Yorkshire.
Six Whitters who lived in Bradford, Yorkshire in 1851 originally came from Bolton in Lancashire. Another six Withers migrated in this period from Munsley, Norfolk to Weymouth in Dorset.
Distribution across England, according to the 1851 Census:
| 1851 Census | Whitter | Witter | Wither | Whitta | Overall | Percentage |
| England | 191 | 211 | 119 | 32 | 553 | 100,00 |
| Lancashire | 71 | 115 | 21 | 0 | 207 | 37,43 |
| Cheshire | 19 | 73 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 18,08 |
| Cornwall | 5 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 35 | 6,32 |
| Devon | 26 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 6,50 |
| Dorset | 10 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 2,89 |
| Middlesex | 27 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 46 | 8,31 |
| Hampshire | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 1,26 |
| Gloucestersh. | 0 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 22 | 3,97 |
| Suffolk | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,00 |
| Warwickshire | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 2,53 |
| Leicestershire | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 1,62 |
| Yorkshire | 6 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 16 | 2,89 |
| Norfolk | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 2,35 |
