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Torbett is a name of ancient Norman origin. It arrived in England with the Norman Conquest of 1066. Torbett is a name that comes from the ancient Norman given name Terbert.
The surname Torbett 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
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Torbett research. Another 130 words (9 lines of text) covering the year 1606 is included under the topic Early Torbett History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Tarbock, Tarbocks, Tarbox, Tirebuck, Torbock, Tarbuck, Tarbux and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Torbett Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In the United States, the name Torbett is the 17,950th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2
Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Torbett name or one of its variants: