Holbert is one of the names that was brought to England in the wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Holbert family name comes from the Old English given name Holbert. Holbert is thought to be a corruption of the Old English personal name Holdbearht, which is composed of the elements hold, which means friendly, and berht, which means bright. [1]
The surname Holbert was first found in Wiltshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. This distinguished family held estates at Corsham and Wooten Basset in Wiltshire. At the time of the taking of the Domesday Book in 1086, a census initiated by Duke William of Normandy after his conquest of England in 1066, these lands were held by Miles Crispin, a powerful tenant-in-chief. Conjecturally, the Hulberts were descended from a Norman noble who held his lands from Miles Crispin. Corsham was the King's Land, but St. Stephen of Caen held the Church.
Early feudal rolls provided the king of the time a method of cataloguing holdings for taxation, but today they provide a glimpse into the wide surname spellings in use at that time. By example, the Latin form, Holbertus, was listed in the Archaelogia Cantiana with no date. William and John Holdebert were both listed in Warwickshire in the Pipe Rolls of 1205 and in the Assize Rolls of 1219 in Yorkshire. [2]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Holbert research. Another 75 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1530, 1660, 1680 and 1530 are included under the topic Early Holbert History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence in the eras before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate regularly changed the spellings of their names as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Holbert have been found, including Hulbert, Hulbirt, Hulbat, Hulbart, Houlbert, Houlbart and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Holbert Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In the United States, the name Holbert is the 6,078th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. [3]
For many English families, the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. For such families, the shores of Ireland, Australia, and the New World beckoned. They left their homeland at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. Many arrived after the long voyage sick, starving, and without a penny. But even those were greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. Numerous English settlers who arrived in the United States and Canada at this time went on to make important contributions to the developing cultures of those countries. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Holbert were among those contributors: