This name is one of the diminutive forms of the popular Medieval English personal name "Gilbert", which was introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. The Norman form of the name was "Gisleberth" in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name means "bright youth", and is composed of the adopted Germanic elements "gisil", noble youth, sometimes "hostage", with "berht", bright, famous. Gilbert became a very popular given name in England during the Middle Ages, partly through the fame of St. Gilbert of Sempringham (1085-1189), the founder of the only native English monastic order. As Tib was the name for a female cat, so was Gib for a male, and although in present times the distinction is forgotten, the name lives on in Literature, for example, "For right no more than Gibbe, our cat, That awaitheth mice and rattles to killen." "Rom aunt of the Rose", Chaucer. Henry Gibby married Alce Goodale on September 27th 1620 at St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Winc Gibbe, which was dated 1290, Ancient Deeds of Norfolk, during the reign of King Edward 1, "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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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