This interesting surname is of English locational origin from the village of "Beeby", six miles from Leicester. The placename is recorded as "Bebi" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "beo" meaning bee, plus the Old Norse "byr", a settlement or village; hence "bee settlement". In the modern idiom, the surname has many variant spellings including Beeby, Beaby, Beebee, and Beebe. The marriage of Agnes Bebee to William Peerson took place on October 6th 1549, at Darrington, Yorkshire; and John, son of Thomas Beebe, was christened on April 29th 1576, at Burbage, Leicester. A Coat of Arms granted to the Beebe family depicts a blue shield with a gold chevron between three flying bees, and a beehive proper on the Crest. In Heraldry, a chevron signifies protection, and has often been granted in arms as a reward to one who has achieved some notable enterprise, and a bee is used to represent well-governed industry. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Anne Bebe, which was dated September 22nd 1549, marriage to Thomas Spare, at St. Martin Orgar and St. Clement, Eastcheap, London, during the reign of King Edward V1, known as "The Boy King", 1547 - 1553. 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.