The following paragraph on the origin of the Webb surname is excerpted from a brochure include with a Webb coat-of-arms fridge magnet that I recently purchased. The original document is © 1995 by Blue Chip Products.

"The name Webb can be found in the earliest of records -- an Alger se Webba is recorded as living in 1100 and later a Wigor Webbe is listed in 1221. [...] The name Webb is occupational, from the Old English word 'webba' (masculine) and 'webbe' (feminine) meaning 'weaver'. It is especially popular in Wiltshire and Somerset."

P.H. Reaney. A Dictionary Of English Surnames (Second revised edition, 1976) has some additional examples of early usage of the surname:

"Alger se Webba c1100-30 OEByn (D); Jernagan, Osbert, Wigor Webbe 1221 ElyA (Sf); Elyas le Webbe 1255 Oseney (O); Alice la Webbe, Webbes 1337 ColchCt. OE webba (m) or webbe (f), 'weaver'.

Sources cited:

• OEByn -- G.Tengvik, Old English Bynames, Uppsala 1938
• ElyA -- BM.Cotton Tiberius B ii
• Oseney -- Cartulary of Oseney Abbey (Oxford Hist. Soc. 89-91, 97, 98, 101, 1929-35)
• ColchCt -- Court Rolls of the Borough of Colchester, 3 vols, Colchester 1921-41

Mabel D. Cox Green. Growth of the Webb-Cox Tree and Other True Stories (1991), p. 1 notes:

[This genealogy] represents the Webb parent family, from which some branches claimed to have descended from one "Henry Webbe" who was born in Warwickshire, England in 1357. There was another "Henry Webbe" born in 1510, who was knighted by Katherine Parr, Queen Regent in 1554, and granted a coat of arms. [...] The American Webbs may have had a common parentage in Great Britain, but in the United States they are descended from many progenitors whose kinship was widely remote before they ever set foot upon western soil.

I make no claims about the accuracy or completeness of this information.

Note that while the majority of Webbs in Canada are of English origins, there are some exceptions. I have found Webbs from Ireland, Wales, and even a few of Dutch origin. In the Twentieth Century, there have been Webb immigrants to Canada from Denmark, Russia, Bermuda, Trinidad, and Jamaica. There are also a small numbers of Webbs of Aboriginal ancestry.

This document is part of the Webb Page.

Last Modified: August 5, 2017