This interesting and uncommon surname, with variant spellings Trybe, Tribb, Trebe, and Trubb, widely recorded in church registers of Sussex from the mid 16th Century is of Germanic origin, and as such, may be either a metonymic occupational name for a vine-grower, or a nickname. The derivation in the first instance is from the Middle High German "trube", (old High German "t(h)ruba"), a bunch of grapes, and in the second instance may be either the old German "trieb", force or impulse or "trub", gloomy, sad. On November 9th 1556 Peter Tribe and Rose Loder were married in Fernhurst, Sussex, and on November 24th 1588 Peter, son of William Trybe, was christened in Rogate. The christening of one, Robert Trubb took place in St. Andrew by the Wardrobe, London, on August 15th 1612. A Coat of Arms granted to the Trubb family of Bavaria depicts a red bend charged with a silver crown between two red stars on a silver shield. The bend represents the shoulder strap worn by a warrior and signifies Defense. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Tribe, (christening), which was dated January 3rd 1553, Fernhurst, Sussex, during the reign of King Edward V1, "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.