Show ContentsMabb History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Mabb family

The surname Mabb was first found in Kirkcudbrightshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Chille Chuithbheirt), part of the present day Council Area of Dumfries and Galloway, former county in Southwestern Scotland, where they held a family seat from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.

Much farther to the south in Cornwall, England we found this interesting entry as to the parish of Mabe in Cornwall:

"This parish, which is neither large nor populous, is in the deanery and east division of the hundred of Kirrier. It is situated about two miles and a half nearly north-west from Penryn, and contains but little to recommend it to particular notice. On the origin of its name many doubts have been entertained. As a distinct parish its antiquity cannot be compared to that of many other parishes; since it was formerly appropriated to the rich college of Glaseney, at Penryn, and in conjunction with Milor, it forms at present only a consolidated vicarage. In some old records this parish bears the name of Lavabe or Lavapper, and at other times Lan-Mabe, which implies the church of Mabe.' 1

Father Mapple is a fictional character in Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick (1851); eponym of Mapple Glacier, in the Aristotle Mountains of Antarctica.

Early History of the Mabb family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Mabb research. Another 95 words (7 lines of text) covering the year 1200 is included under the topic Early Mabb History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Mabb Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Mabbe, Mabee, Mabey, Mabie, Mabes and others.

Early Notables of the Mabb family

More information is included under the topic Early Mabb Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Mabb migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Mabb Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Thomas Mabb, who settled in Virginia in 1643
  • Tho Mabb, who arrived in Virginia in 1643 2
  • Arthur Mabb, who settled in Maryland in 1684

Contemporary Notables of the name Mabb (post 1700) +

  • Henry Liddell Mabb (1872-1961), English-born, Canadian politician, Mountie, and rancher in Manitoba


  1. Hutchins, Fortescue, The History of Cornwall, from the Earliest Records and Traditions to the Present Time. London: William Penaluna, 1824. Print
  2. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


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