Hubbard History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The surname Hubbard is a name of ancient Norman origin. It arrived in England with the Norman Conquest of 1066. Hubbard is a name that comes from the Norman personal name Hildebert, which is composed of the Germanic elements “hild,” which meant “battle” or “strife,” and “berht,” which meant “bright” or “famous.” The Norman Conquerors imported a vast number of Norman French personal names into England, which largely replaced traditional Old English personal names among the upper and middle classes.

Early Origins of the Hubbard family

The surname Hubbard was first found in the Domesday Book of 1086 where the early Latin form of the name was found in Hampshire, Eudo filius Huberti. 1

The family may have descended from Roger and/or Ralph Hubert, who were listed in the Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae (1180). 2

Later on in London, as a forename, Hubert de Bissoppesgate was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of 1292. Thomas Huberd (Hubert) was found in Dorset in the Pipe Rolls of 1230, William Hoberd was in the Feet of Fines for Suffolk in 1292 and Roger Hubard was in the Subsidy Rolls for Somerset in 1327. 3

Osbert Houbard was also listed in Somerset, Edward III (during the first year of King Edward III’s reign.) 4

The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 recorded Petrus Hubard; Alicia Hubard; and Isabella Hoberd as all holding lands there at that time. 5

“Hubbard is a characteristic Norfolk name. The early form of the name in this and the neighbouring counties, both in Domesday times and in the centuries immediately following, was Hubert, occasionally written Huberd; and we find that Robert Hubert or Hoberd was rector of Seaming at the close of the 14th century. Thence, the transition to Hubberd, and on to Hubbard is an easy one. ” 6

The English nursery rhyme “Old Mother Hubbard” is generally attributed to Sarah Catherine Martin (1768-1826), who lived in Yealmpton, Devon and was first published under the title “The Comic Adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and her Dog.”