The name Frisbee was carried to England in the enormous movement of people that followed the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Frisbee family lived in Leicestershire, in a town called Frisby which is now lost to the map. A number of towns called Frisby exist in England, all deriving their names from the Old Norman word frisir, which indicated someone from the area of Frisia or Friesland.
The surname Frisbee was first found in Leicestershire where the family were Lords of the manor of Frisby at the time of the taking of the Domesday Book, [1] a survey by William the Conqueror in 1086, after his conquest of England in 1066 A.D. Conjecturally they are descended from Fulk, a Norman noble who held this land from Hugh de Grandmesnil. The village is now deserted and lies on Frisby Hall farmland. Also in Leicestershire Frisby on the Wreake were estates held by Earl Hugh and may have had some connection to the family.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Frisbee research. Another 71 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1965 and 1929 are included under the topic Early Frisbee History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Endless spelling variations are a prevailing characteristic of Norman surnames. Old and Middle English lacked any definite spelling rules, and the introduction of Norman French added an unfamiliar ingredient to the English linguistic stew. French and Latin, the languages of the court, also influenced spellings. Finally, Medieval scribes generally spelled words according to how they sounded, so one person was often referred to by different spellings in different documents. The name has been spelled Frisbie, Frisby, Frisbee, Frisebie, Frisebye, Friseby and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Frisbee Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In the United States, the name Frisbee is the 9,969th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. [2]
Some of the Frisbee family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
To escape the political and religious persecution within England at the time, many English families left for the various British colonies abroad. The voyage was extremely difficult, though, and the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving. But for those who made it, the trip was most often worth it. Many of the families who arrived went on to make valuable contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families reveals a number of immigrants bearing the name Frisbee or a variant listed above: