Wellborn History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Wellborn was carried to England in the enormous movement of people that followed the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Wellborn family lived in Lincolnshire. Their name is derived from the Old English word welle, meaning well, and the Old Norse word brunnr, meaning stream or spring, and indicates that the original bearer lived near a well by a stream or spring. 1

The Domesday Book of 1086 has three listings: Welborne (Walebruna), Norfolk; Welbourne (Wellebrune), Lincolnshire; and Welburn (Wellebrune), North Yorkshire. 2

Early Origins of the Wellborn family

The surname Wellborn was first found in Lincolnshire where they were Lords of the manor of Welbourn and conjecturally descended from a Norman noble, Robert Malet, who was granted the church and mill by King William the Conqueror in 1066. The ancestry of Robert goes back to Graville near Havre in Normandy in 990, where he was descended from Algar, the seventh Earl of Mercia. 3

Early rolls gave a glimpse at the various spellings in use over the years: Walebrun was recorded in Lincolnshire c. 1155; Robert Walebrun was registered in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1296; and John Walebron was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1327. 4 The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had one entry for the family, that of Hugh de Welleburn, Lincolnshire. 5

Early History of the Wellborn family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wellborn research. Another 42 words (3 lines of text) covering the years 1605, 1640, 1697, 1699, 1702 and 1929 are included under the topic Early Wellborn History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wellborn Spelling Variations

Multitudes of spelling variations are a hallmark of Anglo Norman names. Most of these names evolved in the 11th and 12th century, in the time after the Normans introduced their own Norman French language into a country where Old and Middle English had no spelling rules and the languages of the court were French and Latin. To make matters worse, medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, so names frequently appeared differently in the various documents in which they were recorded. The name was spelled Welborne, Welborn, Welbourne, Welburn and others.

Early Notables of the Wellborn family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Thomas Wellborn (also: Welbourn, Welbourne, Wellbourne), (1640-1702), served as Captain in the King's Militia, and in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1699 to 1702...

Wellborn Ranking

In the United States, the name Wellborn is the 16,677^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 6

Wellborn migration to the United States +

Because of this political and religious unrest within English society, many people decided to immigrate to the colonies. Families left for Ireland, North America, and Australia in enormous numbers, traveling at high cost in extremely inhospitable conditions. The New World in particular was a desirable destination, but the long voyage caused many to arrive sick and starving. Those who made it, though, were welcomed by opportunities far greater than they had known at home in England. Many of these families went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Wellborn or a variant listed above:

Wellborn Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Marshall J. Wellborn, aged 30, who landed in America, in 1894

Wellborn Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

M. J. Wellborn, aged 39, who immigrated to America, in 1903
Mrs. M. J. Wellborn, aged 39, who landed in America, in 1903
Charles E. Wellborn, aged 46, who immigrated to the United States, in 1909
Minnie Wellborn, who immigrated to the United States, in 1910
Arthur Wellborn, aged 31, who immigrated to the United States, in 1911
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Wellborn (post 1700) +

Maximilian Bethune Wellborn (1862-1957), American banker, the first chairman of the board and a governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Marshall Johnson Wellborn (1808-1874), American politician, lawyer and jurist
Olin Wellborn (1843-1921), American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from Texas (1879 to 1833)
John Wellborn Root (1850-1891), American architect
Wellborn Jack, American Democratic Party politician, Member of Louisiana State House of Representatives, 1950 7

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 20) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html