Recorded in several spellings including Tubb, Tubbs, Tubby, Tubie, Tubey and others, this is an English surname but one of early medieval French origins. It derives from the personal name Theobald also recorded as Tebald, Tibalt, Teoband and Tibaut. Theobald is composed of the Germanic elements "theudo", meaning "people", and "bald", bold or brave, and has given rise to a great many variant surnames, including: Tuddall, Tubbles, Dybald, Dipple, Tibbet, Tebbutt, Theobald, Tidbold and others. The personal name is believed to have been introduced into England by followers of William, The Conqueror, after the Norman Invasion of 1066. The surname was first recorded in the late 12th Century (see below), and the following examples illustrate the name development since then: Hugo Tebaud, in the 1202 Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire; Alan Tubbi in the Curia Regis rolls for Norfolk in 1206, and William Theobald, in the Feet of Fines of Suffolk in 1250; The epic story of the Middle Ages, "Reynard the Fox", contains the story of Tibert, the cat; and hence the modern-day "Tibbles". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Tomas Teobald. This was dated 1199, in the "Pipe Rolls of the county of Gloucestershire". This was during the reign of King Richard 1st, known as "Richard the Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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