Happel

Recorded in many forms including Habbert, Happert, Hobbert, Hobart, Hobbart, Habert, Happel, Hadeke, Habbema, Hobbema, Hapke, Hatje, Hablet, Hablot, Habbes, Haps, Habben, Hobben, Hobbing, and Hubbard, this ancient surname can only be described as "European". It derives from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Hugibert or Hubert, itself a compound of the elements "hug" meaning "heart", and "beorht" - bright or famous, a translation which no doubt contributed to its early popularity. The name was probably introduced in Britain by the Saxon invaders of the 8th century, although its first known recording would seem to be that of 'Eudo filius Huberti' (Eudo, son of Hubert) in the Domesday Book of 1086. This was not of course a surname, the first of these being Roger Hubert, who appears in the 1199 Fine Court Rolls of Northumberland, whilst other examples of the recordings include William Hobard of Suffolk in 1291, John Hobart also of Suffolk in 1346, whilst Pastor John Hubbard who embarked from London on 17th April 1635, bound for Virginia was one of the early settlers in the New England colonies. He was also one of the first students at the fledgling Harvard University, of which in 1688, he became President. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Hubard, which was dated 1327, in the Subsidy Rolls of Somerset, during the reign of King Edward 111, known as the Father of the Navy, 1327 - 1377. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.