NameCensus.

UK surname

Tibbett

An English surname derived from the Old English word "tibb" meaning a tip or point.

In the 1881 census there were 188 people recorded with the Tibbett surname, ranking it #13,379 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 185, ranked #20,652, down from #13,379 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Hockwell with Wilton, Methwold and Doddington. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Fenland, Redcar and Cleveland and Central Bedfordshire.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Tibbett is 237 in 1911. Compared with 1881, the name has stayed broadly stable by 1.6%.

1881 census count

188

Ranked #13,379

Modern count

185

2016, ranked #20,652

Peak year

1911

237 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Tibbett had 188 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #13,379 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 185 in 2016, ranked #20,652.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 237 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Small Town Suburbia.

Tibbett surname distribution map

The map shows where the Tibbett surname is concentrated in each census or modern distribution year. Darker areas mean a stronger local concentration.

Distribution map

Tibbett surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Tibbett over time

The table below tracks recorded surname counts and rank from the 19th-century census years through the modern adult-register period.

Year Period Count Rank
1851 historical 181 #11,256
1861 historical 110 #19,562
1881 historical 188 #13,379
1891 historical 187 #15,679
1901 historical 197 #15,272
1911 historical 237 #13,406
1997 modern 199 #17,668
1998 modern 202 #17,991
1999 modern 200 #18,237
2000 modern 202 #18,094
2001 modern 194 #18,287
2002 modern 192 #18,767
2003 modern 187 #18,856
2004 modern 202 #18,110
2005 modern 193 #18,572
2006 modern 182 #19,402
2007 modern 191 #19,031
2008 modern 198 #18,753
2009 modern 200 #19,028
2010 modern 193 #19,880
2011 modern 197 #19,483
2012 modern 182 #20,440
2013 modern 183 #20,722
2014 modern 193 #20,159
2015 modern 188 #20,417
2016 modern 185 #20,652

Geography

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Where Tibbetts are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Hockwell with Wilton, Methwold, Doddington, Dunstable and Ivinghoe, Cheddington, Slapton, Pitstone (Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire), Eddlesborough, Little Gadde. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Fenland, Redcar and Cleveland, Central Bedfordshire and Middlesbrough. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Some modern areas include a three-digit suffix, such as Leeds 110. The suffix is a small-area code, so it stays in the table while the prose uses the plain place name.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 Hockwell with Wilton Norfolk
2 Methwold Norfolk
3 Doddington Cambridgeshire
4 Dunstable Bedfordshire
5 Ivinghoe, Cheddington, Slapton, Pitstone (Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire), Eddlesborough, Little Gadde Bedfordshire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Fenland 010 Fenland
2 Redcar and Cleveland 011 Redcar and Cleveland
3 Central Bedfordshire 015 Central Bedfordshire
4 Central Bedfordshire 017 Central Bedfordshire
5 Middlesbrough 018 Middlesbrough

Forenames

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First names often paired with Tibbett

These lists show first names that appear often with the Tibbett surname in historical and recent records.

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Tibbett

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Tibbett, this points to the kinds of places where the surname is most concentrated today.

These neighbourhood labels describe areas, not individual people. They are useful because surnames often cluster through family history, migration, housing patterns and local work. A surname can be strongest in one type of neighbourhood even when people with that name live across the country.

The UK classification gives the national picture. The London classification is more specific to the capital, where housing, age profile, tenure and population mix can look quite different from the rest of the UK.

UK neighbourhood type

UK Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Retired Professionals

Group

Small Town Suburbia

Nationally, the Tibbett surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Small Town Suburbia, within Retired Professionals. This does not mean every Tibbett household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

This Group is predominantly comprised of married couples with no resident dependent children, living in areas characterised neither by under-occupancy nor overcrowding throughout the UK in or adjacent to small towns. White ethnic groups and affiliation with Christianity predominates. Housing tends to be predominantly semi-detached or detached and workers are employed principally in managerial and professional occupations, with semi-skilled occupations also in evidence. These areas of the Supergroup are of higher population density.

Wider pattern

Typically married but no longer with resident dependent children, these well-educated households either remain working in their managerial, professional, administrative or other skilled occupations, or are retired from them – the modal individual age is beyond normal retirement age. Underoccupied detached and semi-detached properties predominate, and unpaid care is more prevalent than reported disability. The prevalence of this Supergroup outside most urban conurbations indicates that rural lifestyles prevail, typically sustained by using two or more cars per household.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles

Group

Established Homeowners with Children

Within London, Tibbett is most associated with areas classed as Established Homeowners with Children, part of Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles. This gives the surname a London-specific profile rather than forcing the capital into the same pattern as the rest of the country.

Read profile summary

Group profile

These predominantly British-born residents are typically married/in civil partnerships and own the properties in which they are raising their children. Parents are typically over 45, and many other residents are beyond normal retirement age. Detached and semi-detached houses predominate and multiple car ownership is common.

Wider London pattern

These neighbourhoods house people of all ages, predominantly of White British or European extraction. Resident turnover is low. Religious affiliation is less common than average and tends to be Christian if expressed. Homeownership, typically of terraced houses, is common but use of the social rented sector is not. Employment is typically in professional, managerial and associate professional or technical occupations. There are few full-time students. Level 4 qualifications are common. More households lack dependent children than have them which, considered alongside low levels of crowding and over-all age structure, indicates that many households may be post child-rearing and in late middle age. Incidence of disability is low, as is residence in communal establishments.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Tibbett is most concentrated in decile 5 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname near the middle of the scale.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

5
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Tibbett falls in decile 7 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname near the middle of the scale.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

7
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Tibbett is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of Over 70 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

10
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

This describes the area pattern most associated with Tibbett, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Tibbett

The surname Tibbett is believed to have originated in England during the medieval period. It is thought to be a variant of the more common surname Tebbit or Tibbit, which itself derived from the Old English personal name Tibba, a diminutive of the name Tib or Tibb. These names were likely nicknames for someone small or short in stature.

The earliest recorded mention of the Tibbett surname dates back to the late 13th century, appearing in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1273. These ancient census records list a Richard Tybbot as a resident of the county. Over the following centuries, various spellings of the name emerged, including Tibbet, Tebbett, Tybbott, and Tibbott.

One of the earliest known bearers of the Tibbett surname was John Tybbot, who was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Sussex in 1296. Another early reference can be found in the Cambridgeshire Feet of Fines from 1349, which mentions a William Tybbot.

The Tibbett name has been connected to several place names throughout England, such as Tibberton in Gloucestershire and Tibshelf in Derbyshire. These locations may have influenced the development of the surname or provided a source for its adoption by local families.

Among notable historical figures with the Tibbett surname, one can mention Sir John Tibbett (1512-1583), a prominent English politician who served as Sheriff of Gloucestershire and Member of Parliament for Gloucester in 1553. Another noteworthy individual was Thomas Tibbett (1658-1718), an English clergyman and author who wrote several religious works.

Other individuals of historical significance include William Tibbett (1739-1826), a British naval officer who served in the American Revolutionary War, and John Tibbett (1802-1878), a English-born Australian politician and businessman who played a role in the early development of the city of Sydney.

The Tibbett surname also has a connection to literary history through the English poet and playwright John Tibbett (1796-1839), best known for his satirical work "The Terrible Tractoration and Other Poems."

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Tibbett families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Tibbett surname. Use the location tables for concentration, then the name and occupation tables for the people behind the surname.

Top counties

Total is the county count. Frequency and index adjust for local population size, so they are better concentration signals. Middlesex leads with 45 Tibbetts recorded in 1881 and an index of 2.45x.

County Total Index
Middlesex 45 2.45x
Bedfordshire 24 25.28x
Yorkshire 20 1.10x
Norfolk 16 5.67x
Cambridgeshire 15 12.91x
Surrey 15 1.68x
Lancashire 13 0.60x
Warwickshire 8 1.73x
Derbyshire 6 2.09x
Leicestershire 6 2.95x
Hampshire 4 1.06x
Northamptonshire 4 2.32x
Hertfordshire 3 2.37x
Lincolnshire 2 0.68x
Buckinghamshire 1 0.90x
Essex 1 0.28x
Gloucestershire 1 0.28x
Lanarkshire 1 0.17x
Midlothian 1 0.41x
Monmouthshire 1 0.75x
Oxfordshire 1 0.88x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Eaton Bray in Bedfordshire leads with 12 Tibbetts recorded in 1881 and an index of 1250.00x.

Place Total Index
Eaton Bray 12 1250.00x
Middlesbrough 12 50.72x
Dunstable 11 376.71x
Hulme 11 24.21x
Methwold 9 989.01x
Aston 8 6.28x
Clerkenwell London 8 18.48x
Hackney London 8 7.78x
Linthorpe 8 73.80x
March 8 205.66x
Bethnal Green London 7 8.79x
Church Gresley 6 131.29x
East Langton 6 4000.00x
Hockwold Cum Wilton 6 1250.00x
Lambeth 6 3.75x
Charterhouse London 4 459.77x
Southwark St George Martyr 4 10.84x
St Marylebone London 4 4.09x
Flamstead 3 258.62x
Impington 3 1200.00x
Islington London 3 1.69x
Maxey 3 789.47x
Portsea 3 4.07x
Richmond 3 23.96x
Doddington 2 235.29x
Hammersmith London 2 4.43x
Kensington London 2 1.96x
Shoreditch London 2 2.52x
Spotland 2 8.27x
St Botolph Aldgate 2 80.00x
St Clement Cambridge 2 416.67x
Bow London 1 4.28x
Bucknell 1 588.24x
Clifton 1 5.50x
Colchester St Giles 1 27.93x
Deeping St James 1 96.15x
Edinburgh St Marys 1 20.92x
Edlesborough 1 99.01x
Feltwell 1 181.82x
Great Grimsby 1 5.37x
Hamilton 1 6.05x
Mile End Old Town 1 3.45x
Northill 1 112.36x
Peterborough 1 8.01x
Southampton St Mary 1 4.23x
Spitalfields London 1 7.25x
Stoke 1 23.70x
Streatham 1 7.35x
Upper Machen 1 109.89x

Top female names

These are the female first names most often recorded with the Tibbett surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
Mary 9
Sarah 9
Elizabeth 7
Martha 6
Emma 5
Jane 4
Susan 3
Alice 2
Charlotte 2
Edith 2
Eliza 2
Elizth. 2
Emily 2
Hannah 2
Margaret 2
Rebecca 2
Rose 2
Ruth 2
Ann 1
Anne 1
Caroline 1
Carrie 1
Catherine 1
Eleanor 1
Ellen 1
Ethel 1
Fanny 1
Frances 1
Harriet 1
Isabel 1
Louisia 1
Lucy 1
Mable 1
Maggie 1
Maud 1
May 1
Myra 1
Nancy 1
Nelly 1
Rosy 1
Sophia 1
Susanhana 1

Top male names

These are the male first names most often recorded with the Tibbett surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

FAQ

Tibbett surname: questions and answers

How common was the Tibbett surname in 1881?

In 1881, 188 people were recorded with the Tibbett surname. That placed it at #13,379 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Tibbett surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 185 in 2016. That gives Tibbett a modern rank of #20,652.

What does the Tibbett surname mean?

An English surname derived from the Old English word "tibb" meaning a tip or point.

What does the Tibbett map show?

The map shows local surname concentration for the selected year. Darker areas have a stronger concentration of Tibbett bearers relative to the surrounding population.

What records is this surname page based on?

The historical counts come from census surname records. The modern counts and neighbourhood summaries come from later surname distribution records. Counts are recorded bearers in those records, not a live estimate of everyone with the name today.