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Keeble History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Keeble History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The history of the name Keeble dates back to the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It is derived from a member of the family who worked as a person who made or sold cudgels, which were short, stout sticks used as weapons. The surname Keeble was also applied as a nickname to a person who was considered as stout and heavy. 1

Another source disagrees with this theory. Bardsley believes that the "surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Kibble,' i.e. Cuboid. A strong confirmation of the view that Kibbel was an old personal name is the existence of such local names as Kibblethwaite, Kibbleworth, Kibblestone, Cobbledick." 2

Early Origins of the Keeble family

The surname Keeble was first found in Suffolk where Æluric Chebbel was found c. 1095. While the name does not appear in the Domesday Book of 1086, it would be safe to assume that the Keeble family were indeed there at that time.

Later, William Kebbel was found in the Curia Regis Rolls for 1214 and in 1263 Salomon Kebbel was found in the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1263.

The Hundredorum Rolls of 11273 included entries for a wide variety of spellings: Michael Kibbel, Huntingdonshire; William Kibbel, Cambridgeshire; Thomas Kibel, Lincolnshire; Reginald Kibel, Lincolnshire; and Stephen Cubbel, Oxfordshire. 2

"From the 15th to the 17th century, Keeble, in the forms often of Keble, Kebill, and Kebyll, was a common name amongst the gentry and tradesmen of Stowmarket [Suffolk]. Keeble is still a Stowmarket name. In the 13th century, Kibel, Kibbel, and Kebbel were names found in the adjacent counties of Cambridge and Hunts, as well as in those of Lincoln and Oxford. There are Kibbles now in Bucks and Warwickshire." 3

Early History of the Keeble family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Keeble research. Another 159 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1120, 1510, 1523, 1607, 1632, 1644, 1649, 1650, 1654, 1686, 1710, 1711, 1786, 1792, 1806, 1807, 1809 and 1866 are included under the topic Early Keeble History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Keeble Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Keeble has undergone many spelling variations, including Keeble, Keble, Kebbell, Kebell, Kebill, Kebyll, Kibbel, Kibble, Kibel, Keebler and many more.

Early Notables of the Keeble family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

Richard Keble, Keeble or Kebbel (fl. 1650), English judge an old family settled at Newton in Suffolk. He was Commissioner of the Great Seal from 1649 to 1654
John Keeble (1711-1786), was an organist, musical composer, and writer, and was born in 1711 at Chichester, and was chorister of the cathedral under Thomas Kelway. 4

Keeble Ranking

In the United States, the name Keeble is the 15,464^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 5

Keeble migration to the United States +

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Keeble were among those contributors:

Keeble Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Toby Keeble, who arrived in Virginia in 1666 6
John Keeble, who arrived in Maryland or Virginia in 1672 6

Keeble Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Robert Keeble, who landed in Virginia in 1703 6
Robert and William Keeble, who settled in Maryland in 1726
Richard Keeble, who settled in Virginia in 1739
William Keeble, who landed in Virginia in 1799 6

Keeble migration to Australia +

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

Keeble Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Margaret Keeble, aged 60, a servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1856 aboard the ship "Lord Raglan" 7
James Keeble, aged 28, a farm labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1857 aboard the ship "Monsoon"

Contemporary Notables of the name Keeble (post 1700) +

Marshall Keeble (1878-1968), American preacher, primarily responsible for the establishment of several Christian schools
Edwin Augustus Keeble (1807-1868), American politician in the Confederate States Congress during the American Civil War
Master Sergeant Woodrow Wilson Keeble (1917-1982), U.S. Army National Guard veteran of both World War II and the Korean War posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2008 for his heroic actions in the Korean War
Victor Albert Williams "Vic" Keeble (1930-2018), English footballer from Colchester who played as a centre forward from 1947 to 1960
Captain Noel Keeble (b. 1892), English World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories
Jim Keeble, English novelist and travel-writer from London
John Keeble (b. 1959), British pop drummer for the 1980s band Spandau Ballet 8
Sir Herbert Ben Curtis Keeble GCMG (1922-2008), British diplomat, Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1978 to 1982)
Colonel Christopher Patrick Benedict Keeble DSO, MSc, FCMI (b. 1941), retired officer in the British Army, noted for his service in the Falklands War, recipient of the Distinguished Service Order
Charles Keeble, Australian figure skater at the 1956 Winter Olympics
... (Another 2 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Keeble family +

Halifax Explosion

Mr. George Frederick Keeble (1887-1917), Canadian resident from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada who survived the Halifax Explosion (1917) but later died due to injuries 9

HMS Cornwall

Leonard George Keeble (d. 1942), British Cook Assistant aboard the HMS Cornwall when she was struck by air bombers and sunk; he died in the sinking 10

RMS Lusitania

Mr. Wilfrid R. Keeble, Canadian 1st Class Passenger from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who sailed aboard the RMS Lusitania (1915) and survived the sinking 11
Mrs. Wilfrid R Keeble, (née Fannie Maud Goldsbrough), Canadian 1st Class Passenger from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who sailed aboard the RMS Lusitania (1915) and survived the sinking 11

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
"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)
South Australian Register Friday February 7th, 1856. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) Lord Raglan 1856. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/lordraglan1856.shtml
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2012, August 1) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Halifax Explosion Book of Remembrance | Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. (Retrieved 2014, June 23) . Retrieved from https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/what-see-do/halifax-explosion/halifax-explosion-book-remembrance
Force Z Survivors Crew List HMS Cornwall (Retrieved 2018, February 13th) - Retrieved from https://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listcornwallcrew.html#A
Lusitania Passenger List - The Lusitania Resource. (Retrieved 2014, March 6) . Retrieved from http://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania-passenger-list/