Quibell - Name

This unusual name derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "Cybbel", the source of the Medieval English "kibble" meaning a "cudgell". The name may have been a metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of cudgels, or alterenatively it derives from the Olde English personal name "Cubald". Either way the name has developed into an amazing range of spellings including Cubbel, (1275, Oxford), Kebyll (1525, London), Kible (Cambridge, C.1300), Keatle (1804, London) Quibble (C 1651, Kent). The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Michael Kibbel. which was dated 1273, The Pipe Rolls of Huntingdonshire. during the reign of King Edward I, The Hammer of the Scots, 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.