Torbert History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancestors of the Torbert family arrived in England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The name Torbert came from the ancient Norman given name Terbert.

Early Origins of the Torbert family

The surname Torbert was first found in Lancashire where they held a family seat from very ancient times at Tarbock, after the Norman Conquest in 1066. They were descended from the Baron Richard, brother of Sir Robert Fitzhenry, founder of Burscough Priory. " Henry de Tarbock or Torbock, who was early the lord of Tarbock, Roby, Huyton, Knowsley, and other manors, had two sons. The elder of these, Robert, was sometimes distinguished by the Norman patronymic FitzHenry, which the English rendered Harrison, and sometimes was denominated from his principal residence, de Lathom; while Richard, the other son, inheriting Tarbock, designated himself from that estate." 1

Early History of the Torbert family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Torbert research. Another 130 words (9 lines of text) covering the year 1606 is included under the topic Early Torbert History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Torbert Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Torbert are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Torbert include Tarbock, Tarbocks, Tarbox, Tirebuck, Torbock, Tarbuck, Tarbux and many more.

Early Notables of the Torbert family

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

Torbert Ranking

In the United States, the name Torbert is the 12,301^st most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Torbert migration to the United States +

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Torbert, or a variant listed above:

Torbert Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

J B Torbert, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 3
Patrick Torbert, who arrived in Alabama in 1858 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Torbert (post 1700) +

Clement Clay "Bo" Torbert Jr. (1929-2018), American jurist, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court (1977-1989)
Jason Torbert (b. 1975), American musician
Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert (1833-1880), career United States Army officer
Dave Torbert (1948-1982), American Bay Area musician
William L. Torbert, American Democratic Party politician, Member of Pennsylvania State Senate 30th District, 1877-78 4
Samuel Torbert, American politician, Member of New York State Assembly from New York County, 1814-15 4
Horace Gates Torbert Jr. (b. 1911), American politician, U.S. Ambassador to Somalia, 1962-65; Bulgaria, 1970-73 4
George L. Torbert, American Republican politician, Postmaster at Dubuque, Iowa, 1873-81 4

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, 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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 12) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html