Recorded in various spellings as shown below, this is an English surname. It derives from the pre 7th century male given name "Cuthbeald", composed of the elements "cuth", meaning famous or renowned, and "beald", bold or brave. The name is also an early recording in Ireland with Cotebaldus de Wigornia being noted in the records of the city of Dublin, dated 1200. The medieval forms of the personal name included Cotebald, Cutebald and Cubald. The surname has the distinction of being first recorded in the Domesday Book (below), and further early examples include: Ricardus Cubaldus of Herefordshire, in 1174; John Cubald of Lincolnshire, in 1219; and John Cobald of Suffolk, 1309. Surnames derived from given names are the oldest and most pervasive surname type, and in vernacular naming traditions (as distinct from religious), names were originally composed of vocabulary elements of the local language, and no doubt, bestowed for their auspicious connotations. The surname is now most widespread in East Anglia and is variously spelt: Cobbold, Cobold, Cobbled, and Cobbald. A coat of rms granted to the family in Ipswich has the blazon of a gold shield charged with a black chevron between three green holly leaves, on a chief of the second a lion passant guardant between two silver fleurs-de-lis. The Motto is "Rebus angustis fortis", and translates as, "Brave in adversity". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Aluuinus Cubold. This was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Northamptonshire, during the reign of King William 1, known as "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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