Tibbs
A surname most likely from a pet form of Theobald, meaning "people of the bold ruler."
The #4,835 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 42,329 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Tibbs is generally treated as a surname from a short form of the medieval personal name Theobald, via pet forms such as Tib, Tebb, or Tibb. Theobald itself comes from Germanic elements meaning roughly "bold" or "brave" plus "people" or "folk." Some older writers also suggested a link with other nickname forms, but the Theobald explanation is the standard one.
History
English records show Tibbs as a relatively uncommon surname, with early modern examples in parish and university registers. Nineteenth-century surname writers consistently connected it with Theobald and related nicknames like Tibb and Tibby. The name survives today mainly in English-speaking countries, especially the United States and Britain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Several 19th-century surname dictionaries group Tibbs with a whole family of related names, including Tibbetts, Tibbitts, and Tibbald.
From the historical record
“bald. TIBBS. See Theobald. TIBETOT. The baronial family traced to the first year of Henry III. to Henry de Tibetot. Thej' were doubtless of Norman extraction, but I do not find any place so called on the mai5 of Normandy. TICEHURST. A parish in Sussex, for- merly Tyshurst. TICIIBORNE. Tichbourne in Hamp-”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom