'little-known' originates from Old English, specifically the words 'lytel' and 'cnāwan', where 'lytel' meant 'small' and 'cnāwan' meant 'to know'.

'little-known' changed from Middle English compounds such as 'lytel-knowen' (a combination of the adjective meaning 'small' and the past participle of 'know') and eventually became the modern English compound 'little-known'.

Initially, the components referred literally to 'small (in degree) of being known'; over time this evolved into the current idiomatic meaning 'not widely known'.