The rich and ancient history of the Willburg family name dates back to the time of the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. It comes from Wigburh, a feminine name meaning "war-fortress." It was recorded once in 901 (as a personal name) and did not appear again until the 12th century. The record of the name from the 12th century is from Suffolk, where Wyburgh was recorded in church records in Bury, sometime between the years 1182 and 1211. This makes this name a metronymic vernacular name. The vernacular or regional naming tradition is the oldest and most pervasive type of metronymic surname. According to this custom, names were originally composed of vocabulary elements from the local language. Vernacular names that were derived from ancient Germanic personal names have cognates in most European languages. For example, the court of Charlemagne (742-814) was Christian and Latin-speaking, but the Frankish dialect of Old German was commonly used for personal names. Vernacular names were widespread throughout Normandy. Accordingly, many typical English and French names are in fact, originally of Germanic origin and often have cognates in other European countries.
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Early Origins of the Willburg family
The surname Willburg was first found in Devon where they held a family seat from ancient times, some say before the Norman Conquest in 1066.
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Early History of the Willburg family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Willburg research. Another 67 words (5 lines of text) covering the year 1461 is included under the topic Early Willburg History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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Willburg Spelling Variations
Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate spelled their names differently as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Willburg have been found, including Wybrew, Wibbery, Wybbery, Whybrew, Whybrow, Wyebrough, Wybrow and many more.
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Early Notables of the Willburg family
More information is included under the topic Early Willburg Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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Migration of the Willburg family
Families began migrating abroad in enormous numbers because of the political and religious discontent in England. Often faced with persecution and starvation in England, the possibilities of the New World attracted many English people. Although the ocean trips took many lives, those who did get to North America were instrumental in building the necessary groundwork for what would become for new powerful nations. Among the first immigrants of the name Willburg, or a variant listed above to cross the Atlantic and come to North America were : John WyBerry settled in Barbados in 1635.
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