Origins of the surname.

The name is spelt in many different ways over the years, Gibbins, Gibbings, Gubbins, Gubbons, Gibbons, and sometimes with just one “b” with or without the “s”. In many earlier documents it is shown as Gybbons, Gybbens, even Guibbon, or Guibon.

I often ignore the various spelling of names as they are nearly always spelt phonetically, but I would like to note that there seems to be a trend for Edward the Historian to be “Gibbon”, as is the name of Thomas the MP for Exeter, but the musical family is “Gibbons”. My husband’s family is “Gibbins”, with one exception, a cousin who became so fed up with correcting the spelling from Gibbons to Gibbins gave up using the “i” and kept the “o”.


The surname is described as follows:

1. Son of Gilbert, English, patronymic derived from the Christian name Gilbert 'pledge, bright,' a favourite name during the Middle Ages, partly due to Gilbert of Sempringham who founded the Gilbertine order in the twelfth century and was canonized in 1202.
2. Place name Marsh Gibbon in Buckinghamshire.
3. Ralph Gibiun 1176 is one of the first recorded users of the name.
4. French meaning gift-friend.
5. Gibbwn, the gire-falcon
6. Gibbs - an English surname from the dim. of Gilbert. Gibbon appears as a personal name 15th C. The variant Gibby may derive from the Welsh name Cybi. Gibb, Gibbon, Gibbons, Gibby, Gibba.
7. Gibbon also may be derived from the falcon, according to one suggestion: "Gibbwn, the gire-falcon".

The earliest example if the name I have found in Devon is:
1332 RICHARD GYBOUN PAID TAX 12d HUND. OF COLITON DEVON LAY SUBSIDY 1332

gib•bous (gĭb'əs)
adj.
1.
a. Characterized by convexity; protuberant.
b. More than half but less than fully illuminated. Used of the moon or a planet.
2. Having a hump; humpbacked.
[Middle English, bulging, from Late Latin gibbōsus, hunch-backed, from Latin gibbus, hump.]
gibbously gib'bous•ly adv.
gibbousness gib'bous•ness n.