This interesting and unusual surname derives from either of two Old English pre 7th Century female personal names Babbe or Bebbe, found in several placenames, such as Babbacombe in Devonshire, recorded as Babbecumbe circa 1200; Babthorpe in Yorkshire, appearing as Babetorp in the Domesday Book of 1086, and Bebbington in Cheshire, noted in the Chester City Rolls of 1100 as Bebinton. "Bebbe" is evidenced as a woman's and a man's name in the entry "Bebbesham". The Anglo Saxon Chronicle, dated 680. The name is of uncertain origin, and is thought to be a nursery word. Babb, a petform of the female given name Barbara, from the Greek "barbados", foreign or stranger, is also thought to have given rise to the surname. On February 7th 1633 Jane Bebb and Thomas Hall were married in St. Dunstan's, Stepney, London. A Coat of Arms granted to Horatio Bebb, Esq., of Donnington Grove, Berkshire, is divided quarterly, the first and fourth has three gold cresents, the third and fourth being two fleur-de-lis all on a blue field. The motts reads "Proemium, virtusis, honour" translating as "Honour is the reward of virtue".Alwinus Babbe, witness, The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of 1198, "The Fine Court Rolls of Suffolk", which was dated 1198, The Fine Court Rolls of Suffolk, during the reign of King Richard 1, "Richard the Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. 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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