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Nesbit History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Suggested Reading Citations

Nesbit History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland

The ancient roots of the Nesbit family are found in the Scottish-English border region where the ancestors of the name Nesbit lived among the people of the Boernician tribe. The Nesbit family lived in any of several places in the Border region of Scotland called Nesbitt or Nisbit. There were hamlets of East Nisbet and West Nisbet in Berwickshire, a village of Nisbet in Roxburghshire, a Nesbit in Northumberland, and a township of Nesbit in County Durham. 1 These place names derive from the Middle English words nese, meaning "nose," and bit, meaning a "piece of ground;" as such, these place names are thought to have referred to geographic features resembling a nose. The surname may well have arisen independently from these different place names.

Early Origins of the Nesbit family

The surname Nesbit was first found in Berwickshire an ancient county of Scotland, presently part of the Scottish Borders Council Area, located in the eastern part of the Borders Region of Scotland where they held a family seat from early times and King David I confirmed a charter (now in the archives of Durham Cathedral) granting the lands of Nisbet to Aldan de Nisbet, the founder of the line of Nisbet in 1139. According to family lore, they descend from Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria (d. 1073).

The family is "from the old barony of Nesbit in the parish of Edrom, Berwickshire. William de Nesebite witnessed a confirmation of the town lands of Nesbite to the Priory of Coldingham by Patrick, first Earl of Dunbar (Raine, 116), Dominus Robert de Nesbit, miles, witnessed a charter by William de Horuirden to the Abbey of Kelso, c. 1160-1200." 2

Early History of the Nesbit family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Nesbit research. Another 308 words (22 lines of text) covering the years 1255, 1296, 1340, 1433, 1446, 1456, 1493, 1559, 1580, 1594, 1605, 1609, 1625, 1627, 1630, 1632, 1641, 1657, 1660, 1664, 1677, 1685, 1687, 1725 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Nesbit History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Nesbit Spelling Variations

Since medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, and since there were no consistent rules for the translation of rules from Gaelic to English, spelling variations are extremely common in Boernician names of this vintage. Nesbit has been spelled Nisbet, Nysbit, Nispett, Nispet, Nisbit, Nisbett, Nessbitt, Nessbit, Nesbyth, Nesbitt, Naibet, Nesbeth, Nesbet, Naisbitt, Naisbit, Nesbett, Naisbett, Naibett and many more.

Early Notables of the Nesbit family

Notable amongst the family name during their early history was

Philip Nesbit, of that Ilk was knighted in March 1605 by the Earl of Dunfermline, Lord Chancellor of Scotland; he represented Berwickshire in the Scottish parliament from 1625

Nesbit Ranking

In the United States, the name Nesbit is the 5,482^nd most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 3

Migration of the Nesbit family to Ireland

Some of the Nesbit family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 92 words (7 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Nesbit migration to the United States +

Many of the Boernician-Scottish families who crossed the Atlantic settled along the eastern seaboard in communities that would become the backbone of the emerging nations of the United States and Canada. In the War of Independence, American families that remained loyal to the Crown moved north into Canada and became known as United Empire Loyalists. The ancestral culture of all of these proud Scottish families remains alive in North America in the 20th century through Clan societies and highland games. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the name Nesbit or a variant listed above:

Nesbit Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Hugh Nesbit, who settled in South Carolina in 1684
William Nesbit, who settled in South Carolina in 1685

Nesbit Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Jeremiah Nesbit, who arrived in Charles Town [Charleston], South Carolina in 1768
Sarah Nesbit, who arrived in Charles Town [Charleston], South Carolina in 1768
Archibald Nesbit, who arrived in New York in 1774 4
David Nesbit, who arrived in Mississippi in 1799 4

Nesbit Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Hugh Nesbit, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1808 4
William Nesbit, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1809 4
James Nesbit, who landed in America in 1811 4
Anne Nesbit, who landed in New York, NY in 1817 4
Alexander Nesbit, who arrived in New York in 1835 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Nesbit migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Nesbit Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Mr. William Nesbit U.E. born in South Carolina, USA who settled in Charlotte County, New Brunswick c. 1784 5

Nesbit migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Nesbit Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

E.P. Nesbit, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Susannah" in 1849 6
Mary Nesbit, aged 19, a servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1850 aboard the ship "Joseph Soames" 7
Mary A Nesbit, aged 19, a servant, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Joseph Somes" in 1850 8

Nesbit migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Nesbit Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. Nesbit, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Joseph Fletcher" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 30th September 1853 9
E. Nesbit, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Chile" in 1871

Contemporary Notables of the name Nesbit (post 1700) +

Jeff Nesbit, American author
Jamar Kendric Nesbit (b. 1976), American football guard
Evelyn Nesbit (1884-1967), American artists' model and chorus girl
Walter Nesbit (1878-1938), American politician, Representative from Illinois at-large, 1933-35; Defeated, 1930, 1934 10
Richard Nesbit, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Florida, 2004 10
Jonathan Nesbit Jr., American politician, Member of Maryland State House of Delegates from Washington County, 1842 10
John Woods Nesbit, American politician, Member of Pennsylvania State House of Representatives from Allegheny County, 1881-84, 1889-94 10
Jane Nesbit, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Florida, 2004 10
Isaac Nesbit, American politician, Member of Maryland State House of Delegates from Washington County, 1840-41 10
Charles Nesbit, American politician, Independent Candidate for U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, 1980 10
... (Another 8 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) SUSANNAH 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849Susannah.htm
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) JOSEPH SOMES / SOAMES 1850. Retrieved http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1850JosephSomes.htm
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) JOSEPH SOMES / SOAMES 1850. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1850JosephSomes.htm
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 18) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html