Recorded in many spellings as shown below, this is an English surname. It is pre 7th century and is said to derive either from a place called Wigburh, a now lost medieval village, or from Wigbura, said to have been an early female name. Both names were composed of the same elements being "wig", meaning war and "burh", a fortress, not on the face of it a likely name for a lady. Be that as it may the place or a person from that place was recorded once in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles of the year 901 a.d., but not there afterwards until the 12th century. In view of the variety and frequency of the surname, it must have been more popular than the surviving records suggest. These spellings include Wyber, Wybergh, Whybra, Whybrow, Wheybrew, Wiber, Wilberg, and no doubt others. Early recordings of the surname from surviving London church registers include Maria Whybrow, who was christened on December 16th 1608, at the church St. Gregory's by St. Paul's; whilst on December 26th 1736, Anne Wybra was christened at Christ Church Spitalfields, and Charles Wybrow, who was christened on March 13th 1763, at St. Luke's Chelsea. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Wybir. This was was dated 1279, in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire, during the reign of King Edward 1st of England, 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the 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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