Recorded in many forms including Habard, Habbart, Habbert, Happert, Hobbert, Hobart, Hobbart, Habert, Happel, Hadeke, Habbema, Hobbema, Hapke, Hatje, Hablet, Hablot, Habbes, Haps, Habben, Hobben, Hobbing, Hubbard, and probably others, this ancient surname can only be described as "European". It derives from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Hugibert or Hubert. Translating as "Famous heart" or perhaps "All heart" it is a compound of the elements "hug" and "beorht." The personal name was probably introduced in Britain by the Saxon invaders of the 8th century, although its first known recording would seem to be that of Eudo filius Huberti in the Norman inspired Domesday Book of 1086. This was not of course a surname, these were at least a century later with Roger Hubert who appears in the Fines Court Rolls of Northumberland in 1199. Other recordings showing thr name development include William Hobard of Suffolk in 1291, John Hobart also of Suffolk in 1346, whilst Pastor John Hubbard who embarked from London on 17th April 1635, bound for Virginia was one of the early settlers in the New England colonies. He was also one of the first students at the fledgling Harvard University, of which in 1688, he became President. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Hubard. This was dated 1327, in the Subsidy Tax Rolls of Somerset, during the reign of King Edward 111rd, known as the Father of the English Navy, 1327 - 1377. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes 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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