Tubbs
A patronymic surname meaning “son of Tubb,” with Tubb commonly treated as a pet form of Theobald.
The #2,810 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 24,068 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Tubbs is usually understood as a patronymic, meaning “son of Tubb.” In the historical sources, Tubb is linked to the medieval personal name Theobald, with Tubby treated as a pet form and Tubbs as the possessive/plural-looking surname ending. Some older writers also connected Tubb with other short personal-name forms, but the Theobald explanation is the one most clearly supported in the excerpts.
History
Tubbs appears in English records in medieval and early modern forms such as Tubb and Tubbs. The name belongs to the broad family of surnames formed from personal names, especially those that developed pet forms and hereditary endings over time. It is most strongly associated with England, particularly in historical English surname collections.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname scholars often grouped Tubbs with a surprisingly large cluster of diminutive and family-name forms built from Theobald, including Tibbs, Tibbats, and Tibbets.
From the historical record
“(Heb.) a dim form of Tobias, q.v. TUBBS, Tube's (Sou) : v. Tubb. TUBBY = Tubb (q.v.) + the E. dim. suff. -y. TUBMAN I Cooper, Tub-maker [L.Ger. tubhe, a tub] 2 TuB(B)'s IVIan (-Servant) : v. Tubb. TUCK (Eng.) the A.-Sax. Tucca, Tuca [prob. f. the stem of O.E. tiician, to adorn] Peter Tnck.— Close Rolls, A.D. 1278.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)