This is a surname which is well recorded in England from at least the 18th century. It is probably of German origins. If so we believe that it is from either of the two places called Carlsburg, one in Austria, the other in Germany itself. The one in Northern Germany was originally in an area controlled by the kingdom of Hanover, and logically this would be the place where the name would be expcted to be from, when found in England. This is particularly so given the stong ties between Hanover and England. The name spelling is usually Carlsburg or Karlsburg, and sometimes the Scandanavian Carlsberg. The spelling as Carsbert or Carsberg does not seem to be recorded in Germany at all, or if it is we have not been able to find any examples. The British have always had great difficulty correctly spelling foreign names, and this would seem to be one of the victims! We believe that the name means 'Carls castle', although the Carl in question was probably originally the Emperor Charlemagne, or Charles, the Great, in the 9th century. In this case the earliest known recording in the surviving church registers of the diocese of Greater London is that of George Carsbert who married Sarah Moore on September 30th 1769. However this name which seems itself to have been a misspelling, disappeared after July 27th 1770, when the same George is recorded at the same church, St James Garlickhythe, as Carsberg, a spelling which it has apparently retained ever since.

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