This unusual and interesting name is one of the variant forms of the surname created from the medieval given name are mixed; the ultimate origin is Germanic, from the Old German "Godebert", composed of the elements "god", good, or god, with "berht", bright, famous, and it was this name which was popularized in England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. However, there is thought to have been an Old English pre 7th Century equivalent of the personal name, "Godbeorht", one "Godbryt" is recorded in Exeter in the reign of King Canute (1016 - 1035). The surname development includes: William Godebrich (1262, Essex), Gilbert Godebrith (1327, Suffolk), and John Gobard (1335, Staffordshire). The modern surname can be found as Godbert, Gobert, Gobbet, and Gobbett. Edward Gobbett was christened in London in August 1667, and the marriage of Edmund Gobbett and Dinah Walker was recorded at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London, on December 26th 1682. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Godbert, which was dated 1200, The Pipe Rolls of Nottinghamshire, 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.