Trimble
A mostly Cornish surname that likely began as a place-based name and later picked up several spelling variants.
The #2,235 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,934 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Trimble is treated in Cornish-name sources as a variant of Trebbll/Trebell, rather than a name with a wholly separate origin. The underlying Cornish place-name element tre- means a homestead, farm, or settlement, with the second element varying by locality and later spelling. In short, Trimble appears to be a regional surname built from a Cornish place-name that shifted in spelling over time.
History
Nineteenth-century surname writers linked Trimble with border and western-English forms, especially in the Cornwall and Cumberland areas, and noted many close spelling variants such as Treble, Trebell, Tribble, and Tremble. The name later spread beyond Britain through emigration, which is why it appears in American records as well. Because the historical spellings overlap so much, some older authorities treated these forms as interchangeable.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A Cornish surname dictionary explicitly says that Trible, Tribbel, Tremble, and Trimble are all different spellings of the same name.
From the historical record
“TRIG WELL. From treg-uhal, the high town. TRIMBLE. See Trebbll. TRIMBY. See Treby, TRIMMER. See Tremeer. TRINDER. See Trender. TRINICK. See Trinnick. TRINK. From Trink in Leland ; from tren-ick, the dwelling by the creek. Cf. Trinnick.”
— Patronymica Cornu-Britannica; or, the etymology of Cornish surnames