Recorded in a wide range of spellings including Wanbon, Wenbon, Wenborn, Wenbon, Winbon and Wenbar, this is an English and Anglo-Saxon surname. It is locational from a place in the county of Sussex near the town of Wadhurst, called Wenbon's Farm. Early recordings of the placename include Waneburne and Wenbourne in the rolls of Sussex, in 1296 and 1410. These spellings suggest that the component elements are the Olde English pre 7th Century "wende", meaning to wind, and "burna", a stream. Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. Regional and dialectal differences subsequently produced variations in the spelling of the name. Early examples of the surname recording taken from surviving church registers of the late medieval period include Katherine Wenborn, in the court rolls of Sussex, in 1510, and on July 17th 1699, Mary, the daughter of Thomas Wenbon, was christened at Lamberhurst, Kent. Thomas Wenborne signed his name in the marriage register of Salehurst parish, Sussex, as "Wenban" in 1772, and on October 28th 1810 James Wenban and Anne Swift were married in Ticehurst, Sussex. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Gilbert de Waneburne, which was dated 1296, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Sussex", during the reign of King Edward 1st, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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