HEBERT Genealogy: Origin of the Surname HEBERT

Origin of the Surname HEBERT

Though HEBERT is basically an Old French surname, it has English, French, and German variations.

- It originally comes from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements:
   Heri, hari (army) + berht(bright, famous).
- Somewhere along the way, someone began using it as a surname. That usually happened when
     someone would say, "My name is Jean, son of Hebert." The father's given name would become
     the son's surname.

In France ---
It appears to have spread throughout northwestern France. The following HEBERTs appear in early times:

Girard and Gabriel HEBERT (of Canchy)
Guillaume and Jacques HEBERT (of St. Malo)
Louis and Jean Francois HEBERT
(of Colombieres)
Michael HEBERT (of Isigny)
Herve and Henri HEBERT
(of Torigny, Bayeux in 1543)

Gabriel and Francois HEBERT (of Escrameville)
Jacques and Pierre HEBERT (of Tour)
Jean HEBERT (of Tour)
Daniel, Etienne, and Adrien HEBERT (of Cambe)
Jean HEBERT (of Varaville, in Caen)
Charles HEBERT (of Gonneville,
Sieur de Varaville around 1548).

As we approach the Acadian time period, we find Jean HEBERT, Seigneur of Boulon, at Caen at the beginning of the 17th century.

In England ---
This Old French name was brought to Britain by the Normans, where the most common variant was HERBERT. The surname HERBERT first appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086. Some say it also derived from the given name, Hubert. The earliest use in England is by William, son of Herbert, who was granted the manor of Norbury, Derbys., in 1125 and was the first to use it as a surname.
In the 13th century, names such as Adam HEBERT and Henry HEBERD start appearing in records. The first record of HEBERT being used as a surname is a roll of Oxfordshire, England in 1279, which lists a Reginald HEBERT.

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