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Tabor History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Motto Suggested Reading Citations

Tabor History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Germany

The name Tabor is from the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name was given to a person who was a person who was known as the taborer, the player on the small drum. Occupational names that were derived from the common trades of the medieval era transcended European cultural and linguistic boundaries. These surnames were frequently derived from the principal object associated with the activity of the original bearer, such as tools or products, in this case the tabor. These types of occupational surnames are called metonymic surnames.

Early Origins of the Tabor family

The surname Tabor was first found in Essex where they held a family seat from very ancient times, before and after the Norman Conquest in 1066.

Early History of the Tabor family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Tabor research. Another 91 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1642, 1681, 1761 and 1788 are included under the topic Early Tabor History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Tabor Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Tabor family name include Taber, Tabert, Tabor and others.

Early Notables of the Tabor family

Distinguished members of the family include

Sir Robert Tabor or Talbor (1642?-1681), English physician, born in Cambridgeshire, the son of John Tabor, registrar to the bishop of Ely and grandson of James Tabor, registrar of Cambridge University...

Tabor Ranking

In the United States, the name Tabor is the 1,936^th most popular surname with an estimated 17,409 people with that name. 1

Tabor migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Investigation of the origins of family names on the North American continent has revealed that early immigrants bearing the name Tabor or a variant listed above:

Tabor Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Philip Tabor, who arrived in Watertown, Massachusetts in 1634
Timothy Tabor, aged 35, who arrived in New England in 1635 from Weymouth, England possible boat is Mary Gould 2
John Tabor, who arrived in Virginia in 1639 2
James Tabor, who landed in Maryland in 1673 2

Tabor Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William Tabor, who arrived in Mississippi in 1827 2
Joseph Tabor, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1829 2
J. B. Tabor, settled in San Francisco in 1850

Tabor migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Tabor Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Mr. Jesse Tabor U.E. who settled in Carleton [Saint John City], New Brunswick c. 1784 3

Tabor migration to Australia +

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

Tabor Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Joseph Tabor, British Convict who was convicted in Chatham, Kent, England for 14 years , transported aboard the "Commodore Hayes" in April 1823, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 4
John Tabor, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Andromache" in 1850 5

Tabor 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:

Tabor Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

George Tabor, aged 19, who arrived in Lyttelton, New Zealand aboard the ship "Apelles" in 1874

Contemporary Notables of the name Tabor (post 1700) +

Donna Barr Tabor (1958-2016), American female paratrooper with the United States Army and a historian of Fort Bragg
Gregory Steven Tabor (b. 1961), American former right-handed Major League Baseball second baseman and pinch runner who played for the Texas Rangers in 1987
Philip Martin "Phil" Tabor (b. 1956), American former NFL football defensive lineman with the New York Giants
Elizabeth McCourt Tabor (1854-1935), better known as Baby Doe, the second wife of pioneer businessman Horace Tabor, her story inspired the opera The Ballad of Baby Doe
Joan Tabor (1932-1968), American actress
James Reubin "Jim" Tabor (1916-1953), nicknamed "Rawhide", American Major League Baseball third baseman
Britton Duncan Tabor (b. 1914), American bank director in Oklahoma
Horace Austin Warner Tabor (1830-1899), American prospector and businessman also known as "Silver Dollar Tabor" and "The Bonanza King of Leadville"
Claude E. Tabor, American Republican politician, Candidate for Wisconsin State Assembly from Douglas County 1st District, 1938 6
Charles F. Tabor, American Democratic Party politician, law partner of William F. Sheehan, from 1883; New York State Attorney General, 1888-91 6
... (Another 19 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Tabor family +

HMAS Sydney II

Mr. Frederick Arthur Tabor (1915-1941), Australian Acting Leading Seaman from Exeter, South Australia, Australia, who sailed into battle aboard HMAS Sydney II and died in the sinking 7

The Tabor Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Soles occidere et redire possint
Motto Translation: The sun sets and they can

Citations +

"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
Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 4th March 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/commodore-hayes
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) ANDROMACHE 1850. Retrieved http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1850Andromache.gif
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 8) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
HMAS Sydney II, Finding Sydney Foundation - Roll of Honour. (Retrieved 2014, April 24) . Retrieved from http://www.findingsydney.com/roll.asp