Carbay History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland

Etymology of Carbay

What does the name Carbay mean?

An ancient Strathclyde-Briton family from the Scottish/English Borderlands were the first to use the name Carbay. They lived in the parish of Inveresk, Lothian, which was first recorded in the form Crebarrin, from the words Gaelic craobhm meaning "tree," and barran, meaning "hedge."

Early Origins of the Carbay family

The surname Carbay was first found in Midlothian, from the lands of CarBerry in the parish of Inveresk. "Johannes de Crebarrin filius Gilleberti de Crebarrin made two grants of lands from his territory of Crebarrin, c. 1230, and about the same period Adam filius Patricii de Crebarrin gifted four bovates of his land of Crebarrin to the Abbey of Dunfermelin. Alexander Crabarri, juror on forfeited estates in Lothian, 1312. William Carbery, M.A., petitioned for a canonry of Aberdeen, 1406." 1

CarBerry Tower is a historic house in East Lothian, Scotland. King David I of Scotland granted "Caerbairin" (Carberry) to the monks of Dunfermline Abbey. The first landowner or lessee was John de Crebarrie. CarBerry Hill, part of the CarBerry Estate was the site where Mary, Queen of Scots facing an army assembled by a confederation of her lords, surrendered.

While most of the family hails from Scotland, there is another possible origin; that of Ireland. There the name "is derived from a geographical locality, 'of CarBerry,' a parish in County Kildare, Ireland. As this surname looks very English, I insert it to prevent any misapprehension." 2

"The Carbury or Carbery baronies in Longford and Sligo were so called from Cairbre, one of the sons of Niall of the Nine Hostages, King of Ireland from A.D. 379 to 405." 3 4

Early History of the Carbay family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Carbay research. Another 131 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1230, 1743, 1792, 1806 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Carbay History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Carbay Spelling Variations

Before the printing press standardized spelling in the last few hundred years, no general rules existed in the English language. Spelling variations in Scottish names from the Middle Ages are common even within a single document. Carbay has been spelled CarBerry, Carbarry, Carbery, Carbray, Carbury, Carbrey, Carbry, Carby, Crebarin and many more.

Early Notables of the Carbay family

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

Migration of the Carbay family to Ireland

Some of the Carbay family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 57 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Carbay family

For Scottish immigrants, the great expense of travel to North America did not seem such a problem in those unstable times. Acres of land awaited them and many got the chance to fight for their freedom in the American War of Independence. These Scots and their ancestors went on to play important roles in the forging of the great nations of the United States and Canada. Among them: Edward, James, John, Patrick, William CarBerry arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1855; John Carbery arrived in New York 1803; Cormick Carbey arrived in Philadelphia in 1864..

Sources +

Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
MacLysaght, Edward, More Irish Families. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-0126-0)