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Fairbank History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Fairbank History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Fairbank is of Anglo-Saxon origin and came from when a family lived near a scenic hillside. The surname Fairbank is derived from the Old English words fair, which means lovely, and bank, which means bank or hill. However, the first portion of the name may sometimes be derived from the Old English word faern, which means fern. 1

Early Origins of the Fairbank family

The surname Fairbank was first found in Cumbria at Firbank, anciently Frithbank, a parish of Kirby Lonsdale in Westmorland. 2 3 Historically part of Westmorland, this village and civil parish has always been relatively small with a population of 199 in the late 1800s and today less than one hundred people.

Early records show Robert Fairebank, son of Farebank in Yorkshire in 1583 4 and Robert Firebancke, of Wennington, parish of Mellinge listed in the Lancashire Wills at Richmond in 1638. 3

Early History of the Fairbank family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Fairbank research. Another 48 words (3 lines of text) covering the years 1594, 1633, 1637 and 1668 are included under the topic Early Fairbank History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Fairbank Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Fairbank family name include Fairbanks, Fairbank, Fairbankes, Firbank and many more.

Early Notables of the Fairbank family

Distinguished members of the family include

Robert Fairbanks of Sowerby

Fairbank Ranking

In the United States, the name Fairbank is the 17,360^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 5

Fairbank migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Fairbank surname or a spelling variation of the name include :

Fairbank Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Jonathan Fairbank, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1633 6
Richard Fairbank, who arrived in Boston, Massachusetts in 1634 6
John Fairbank, who landed in Dedham, Massachusetts in 1642 6
John Fairbank, who settled in Virginia in 1653
Jonas Fairbank, who arrived in Lancaster, Massachusetts in 1659 6

Fairbank Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

J H Fairbank, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1850 6
I W Fairbank, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1850 6

Fairbank migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Fairbank Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. James Fairbank, English convict who was convicted in Essex, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Emma Eugenia" on 2nd November 1837, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7
William Fairbank, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Thirteen" in 1840 8
Mr. John Wentworth Fairbank, English convict who was convicted in London, England for life, transported aboard the "Cressy" on 28th April 1843, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 9

Contemporary Notables of the name Fairbank (post 1700) +

Brigadier-General Leigh Cole Fairbank (1889-1966), American Assistant Surgeon-General US Army (1938-1942) 10
Valerie Baker Fairbank (b. 1949), American judge
Richard Fairbank, American founder and CEO of Capital One
N K Fairbank (1829-1903), American businessman, creator of Fairy Soap
John K. Fairbank, American East Asian scholar
Jennifer Fairbank (b. 1979), American Miss Hawaii
Janet Ayer Fairbank (1878-1951), American author
Janet Fairbank (1903-1947), American operatic singer
Calvin Fairbank (1816-1898), American abolitionist
Janet Ayer Fairbank (1878-1951), American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Illinois, 1924, 1932 (alternate); Member of Democratic National Committee from Illinois, 1924-28 11
... (Another 6 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

The Fairbank Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Finem respice
Motto Translation: Consider the end.

Citations +

Hanks, Patricia and Flavia Hodges, A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. Print. (ISBN 0-19-211592-8)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
"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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 29th March 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/emma-eugenia
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) THIRTEEN 1840. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1840Thirteen.gif
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 21st May 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/cressy
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2012, February 29) Leigh Fairbank. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Fairbank/Leigh_Cole/USA.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, March 16) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html