This is one of a group of surnames whose "soft" sound has lead to a continuous dialectal development from the 12th Century to the 18th Century. It is a derivation of the Olde English "sige-boda", which translates as "bold-victory", and from which origin came the popular "Sibbelt, Sibbald" and the female "Sybilla", personal names of the early medieval period. The introduction of surnames caused a further dilution into Sibb, Sibbet and Sibbs, and as these forms travelled out, local dialects added their own unique variations. In this case the name development would seem to have been from Sibode (see below) to Sybod, one Walter Sybod being recorded in Warwickshire in 1221, to Sibri, Alan Sibri being recorded in York in 1273. Thereafter, diminutives such as "in", a short form of "kin", and "ett" (petit), were added according to local fashion and dialect. The earliest form of Sibbering may be "Sibbinge", one John Sibbinge, recorded as marrying Ane Merces in London, on August 5th 1548, whilst on December 2nd 1683, Richard Sibering, of Standish, Lancashire, married Rachel Rigby. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Sibode, which was dated 1206, in the "Pipe Rolls of Somerset", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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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