This uncommon name is of early medieval English origin, although its ultimate source is from an Old Germanic personal name. Tebb is one of the diminutive forms of the popular medieval given names Tebald, Tibbald or Tibalt, which have also given rise to surnames, and represent the vernacular pronunciation of the male personal name Theobald. This name derives from the Old Germanic "Theudobald", composed of the elements "theudo", people, race, and "bald", bold, brave, which was a common Continental name introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066, in the Old French forms "Teobaud, Tibaut", and the learned "Theobald". The given name is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 in a variety of forms, such as "Teobald, Tedbaldus, Tetbald" and "Tebaldus", and generated a great number of surnames, ranging from Tudball, Tidbold and Tibble, to Dybald, Dibble, Tebbit and Tippett, and the diminutives Tebb, Tibb and Tipp. One Tebbe de Wifardebi is recorded in the Yorkshire Pipe Rolls of 1177, and Tebbe son of Toke is listed in the Lincolnshire Feet of Fines in 1208. An example of recordings of the surname, from Yorkshire Church Registers, is that of the marriage of Richard Tebb and Katherine Newton, on November 5th 1582, at St. Cruix, York. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam Tebbe, which was dated 1316, in the "Records of Feudal Aids", Leicestershire, during the reign of King Edward 11, known as "Edward of Caernafon", 1307 - 1327. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was 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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