This Germanic medieval surname is a developed patronymic form of the pre 7th Century personal name "Ebba"- translating as "Wild Boar". Early German and Anglo-Saxon baptismal names were often compounds composed of elements derived from water, fire, war or vicious wild animals. "Ebba" was also used as a prefix to create compound names such as "Ebergard" (Boar Protector) or "Eberhild" (Boar Battle). In its singular form it is recorded in many variant spellings. These recordings include the following examples - Christianius Eberst who married Anna Maria Castor on January 6th 1660 at Kohenz Stadt, Rheinland, whilst on November 15th 1680, Petrus Ebertz was christened at Moersdorf, Rheinland. A further recording was that of Niclos Eberst, a witness at a christening in Haigerloch, Hohenzollern, on January 31st 1705. Variant spellings include Eberts, Ebertz, Ebbers, Eberz, Eberdt, Ebhardt etc.. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Susanne Ebertius which was dated November 21st 1582, christened at Mittelfranken, Bayern, Germany, during the reign of Emperor Rudolf 11, known as "The Habsburg Emperor", 1576 - 1612. 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.