This interesting surname is of early medieval French origins. It derives from the pre 7th century personal name Theobald, and is recorded in many forms. These include Tebald, Tibalt, Teoband, Thebe, Thebeau, Thebeaud, Thibaud, Thibaudet, Thibaudeau, Thibaudin, and the apparent North American form of Thibodeaux. Theobald is composed of the Germanic elements "theudo", meaning "people", and "bald", bold or brave, and as such is a typical compound personal name of the 'Dark ages'. It has also given rise to a great many variant surnames which at first glance are not associated with Theobaldand at all. These include Tubb, Tuddall, Tubbles, Dybald, Dipple, Tibbs, Tibbet, Tebbutt, and Thibou, to name but a few. The earliest of all known recordings of the name in any spelling are in England, where it is believed to have been introduced by followers of William, Duke of Normany, after the Norman Invasion of 1066. England was the first country to have any form of centralised government. This surname was first recorded in the 12th Century , and the following examples illustrate the continuing development since then: Hugo Tebaud, in the 1202 Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire; William Theobald, in the 1250 Feet of Fines of Suffolk; and Simon Tebalde in the rolls of Ramsey Abbey, in 1255. Later examples are those of Jean Thebeau, a Huguenot refugee at Threadneedle Street French church, London, on May 19th 1704, and in France, Angelique Thebe, who married Frederic Eb (as spelt), at Rohrbach, department of Moselle, on April 14th 1796. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Tomas Teobald, which was dated 1199, in the "Pipe Rolls" of the county of Gloucestershire, England. This was during the reign of King Richard 1st, known as "Richard coeur de lyon", 1189 - 1199. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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