Gibbon History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The surname Gibbon is derived from the name Gibb, a short form of the Norman personal name Gilbert. This name was originally derived from the name Gislebert, which is comprised of the Germanic elements "gisil," which means "hostage" or "noble youth," and "berht," which means "bright" or "famous." The name features the distinctive Irish patronymic prefix "fitz," which means "son of" in Anglo-French. This is derived from the Old French word "fils," which ultimately comes from the Latin word "filius," both of which mean "son." The Gaelic form of the surname Gibbon is Mac Giobúin.
Early Origins of the Gibbon family
The surname Gibbon was first found in counties of Mayo and Limerick, where two distinct families arose shortly after Strongbow invasion of Ireland in 1172. The majority of the family hails from Mayo and were a branch of the great Burke family.
They were originally known as MacGibbon Burke. They gave their name to Ballymacgibbon in County Mayo. The Limerick FitzGibbon families are descended from John Fitzgerald, whose three sons became hereditary knights of Desmond in 1333.
Two branches of this family, known respectively as the knights of Glin and the knights of Kerry, remained Fitzgeralds. However, the third branch became known by the surname Fitzgibbon and was led by the White Knight, Maurice FitzGibbon, son of Sir Gilbert fitz John, eldest illegitimate son of John FitzGerald, 1st Baron Desmond. The territory of this branch lay in the southeastern corner of Limerick near County Cork. 1
Early History of the Gibbon family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gibbon research. Another 64 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1357, 1419, 1496, 1530, 1543, 1552, 1569, 1575, 1596 and 1608 are included under the topic Early Gibbon History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Gibbon Spelling Variations
Since church officials and medieval scribes spelt each name as it sounded to them; as a result, a single person could accumulate many different versions of his name within official records. A close examination of the origins of the name Gibbon revealed the following spelling variations: Fitzgibbon, Fitzgibbons, MacGibbon, Gibbon, Gibbons, Gibben, Gibbens, Gibbin, Gibbins and many more.
Early Notables of the Gibbon family
Notable amongst the family up to this time was
- Maurice Fitzgibbon, 1st White Knight (d. 1357), second son of John Oge Fitzgerald, alias Fitzgibbon (d. 1569), and Ellen, daughter of Patrick Condon, lord of Condons, accompanied James Fitzmaurice to...
- David Fitzgibbon, was the 2nd White Knight; John Fitzgibbon, 3rd White Knight; Maurice Fitzgibbon, 4th White Knight (d. 1419); John Fitzgibbon, 5th White Knight; Maurice Mor Fitzgibbon, 6th White Knig...
Gibbon Ranking
In the United States, the name Gibbon is the 16,534th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2
Gibbon migration to the United States +
Ireland's Great Potato Famine left the country's inhabitants in extreme poverty and starvation. Many families left their homeland for North America for the promise of work, freedom and land ownership. Although the Irish were not free of economic and racial discrimination in North America, they did contribute greatly to the rapid development of bridges, canals, roads, and railways. Eventually, they would be accepted in other areas such as commerce, education, and the arts. An examination of immigration and passenger lists revealed many bearing the name Gibbon:
Gibbon Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
- Ann Gibbon, who settled in Virginia in 1660
- Francis Gibbon, who arrived in New Jersey in 1675 3
- John Gibbon, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1682 3
Gibbon Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
- William Gibbon, who landed in Virginia in 1701 3
Gibbon Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- Michael Gibbon, aged 35, who landed in New York in 1812 3
- Daniel Gibbon, who arrived in America in 1812 3
- Samuel Gibbon, who arrived in New York, NY in 1816 3
- J. Gibbon, who settled in Baltimore Maryland in 1822
- Edward Masters Gibbon, who landed in New York in 1832 3
- ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Gibbon Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
- John William St. George Gibbon, who arrived in Mississippi in 1901 3
- William S Gibbon, who arrived in Mississippi in 1903 3
Gibbon migration to Canada +
Some of the first settlers of this family name were:
Gibbon Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century
- Geo Gibbon, aged 30, who landed in Canada in 1811
- Geo Gibbon, aged 50, Scottish settler who landed in Red River, Canada in 1811
- Mary Gibbon, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1842
- Mr. Joseph Gibbon, aged 1 who was emigrating through Grosse Isle Quarantine Station, Quebec aboard the ship "Admiral" departing 1st June 1847 from Waterford, Ireland; the ship arrived on 7th July 1847 but he died on board 4
- Mr. William Gibbon who was emigrating through Grosse Isle Quarantine Station, Quebec aboard the ship "Goliah" departing 21st May 1847 from Liverpool, England; the ship arrived on 18th July 1847 but he died on board 4
- ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Gibbon migration to Australia +
Emigration to
Australia followed the
First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:
Gibbon Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
- John Gibbon, a rope-maker, who arrived in New South Wales, Australia sometime between 1825 and 1832
- Mr. William Gibbon who was convicted in Durham, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Camden" on 21st March 1831, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 5
- Mr. James Gibbon, British Convict who was convicted in Liverpool, Lancaster, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Asia" on 20th July 1837, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 6
- James Gibbon, aged 26, a carter, who arrived in South Australia in 1852 aboard the ship "Anglia" 7
Contemporary Notables of the name Gibbon (post 1700) +
- Sir Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), English historian, best known for "the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" 8
- John Heysham Gibbon AB, MD (1903-1973), American surgeon best known for inventing the heart–lung machine
- Joseph Charles Gibbon (1935-2019), American Major League Baseball player who played from 1960 to 1972, World Series Champion (1960)
- John Gibbon (1827-1896), American Civil War Union army officer, who led a division at Gettysburg (1863)
- John Heysham Gibbon Jr. (1903-1973), American surgeon, who invented the heart-lung machine and performed the first open heart surgery
- Mrs. W. L. Gibbon, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Washington, 1956 9
- L. L. Gibbon, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Minnesota, 1932 9
- J. S. Gibbon, American politician, Delegate to Kentucky secession convention, 1861 9
- J. J. Gibbon, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Montana, 1948 9
- Ethel Gibbon, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Michigan, 1940; Candidate for Michigan State House of Representatives from Van Buren County, 1940 9
- ... (Another 2 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Historic Events for the Gibbon family +
- Mr. Isaac G Gibbon (b. 1894), English Chief Ordnance Artificer serving for the Royal Navy from Brighton, Sussex, England, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking 10
Lady of the Lake
- Miss Ann Gibbon (b. 1814), Irish traveller from Moville, Ireland who sailed aboard the "Lady of the Lake" from Greenock, Scotland on 8th April 1833 to Quebec, Canada when the ship hit ice and sunk of the coast of Newfoundland on the 11th May 1833 and she died in the sinking
- Miss Jane Gibbon (b. 1809), Irish traveller from Moville, Ireland who sailed aboard the "Lady of the Lake" from Greenock, Scotland on 8th April 1833 to Quebec, Canada when the ship hit ice and sunk of the coast of Newfoundland on the 11th May 1833 and she died in the sinking
Citations +
- MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families Their Names, Arms and Origins 4th Edition. Dublin: Irish Academic, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2364-7)
- "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)
- Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 77)
- Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 2nd December 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/camden
- Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 7th February 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/asia/1837
- South Australian Register Tuesday 3 February 1852. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) ANGLIA 1852. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/anglia1852.shtml
- Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 30 June 2020
- The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 9) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
- H.M.S. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour, Men Lost in the Sinking of H.M.S. Hood, 24th May 1941. (Retrieved 2016, July 15) . Retrieved from http://www.hmshood.com/crew/memorial/roh_24may41.htm