DIBBLE etc. some notes on possible derivations
By John Dibblee, Cubbington, England
June 1984
Penquin Dictionary of Surnames Basil Cottle, Penguin 2nd edition 1978
Cottle divides surnames into four classes:
1. Based on the first-name of an ancestor.
2. Recording a locality where ancestor originated
3. Recording occupation or status of an ancestor.
4. Nickname descriptive of ancestor’s face, figure, temper, morals, tastes, clothes etc.
He does not list Deble or Deeble but gives us: -
Dibble – from first-name Theobald. Chiefly a Somerset surname.
Dibell, Dible, Diboll – from first-name Theobald.
Dobell, Doble – nickname “twin” – Old French.
Theobald – first-name, “People Bold”, Germanic, with the original “Theud” misrepresented as Greek “Theo” – God. From the vernacular Tebald/Tibald come a number of surnames in Teb-/Tib-Dib-
Oxford English Dictionary – Complete text. Oxford 1971 – has about a page on Dibble, Dib, Dibber etc. It says the oldest form is “Dibble” but doesn’t attempt a derivation. “An istrument for making holes in the ground …. ” – first recorded use c1450, spelt “debylle”.
A Handbook of Cornish Surnames G. Pawley-White. Camborne 1972.
Dobell, Doble. Meaning obscure. “Bell” – distant as in Abell. Found in mid and mid-west Cornell.
- contains names considered to be of Huguenot origin, which include: -
Deble St. Mary Arches Marriage 1564
Debill St. Petrocks Death 1654
Debill St. Petrocks Birth 1719
Deebel St. Sidwell Death
(The references are to parish registers of various parishes in Exeter. He doesn’t say why he thinks the names are Huguenot.)
(I also found a book on West Country surnames but cannot trace my notes about it! I remember it said that there had been considerable movement of population between France and the West Country throughout the middle ages and before and listed a number of names and particles of names that might be of French origin, among which were “ble” and similar sounds.)
I think almost anything can be made out of all this! But I would guess that the most likely derivation is from a first-name, but whether from Saxon, Cornish, French or (least likely) Norman one can’t say. There seems no reference to a locality and I think the occupation reference ulikely. I base this on the thought that a “dibble” would have been only one among many tools used on the land, eg. You don’t get people called “plough” or “hoe”. Unless one of them invented the darn thing! A nickname derivation is quite possible and imagination can be used on this. But Cottle says this is much the smallest class. Of course it is very possible that there were several derivations originally distinct but getting muddled with each other as populations moved and pronunciations and spellings proliferated.