Eorth-Burgh = Gereburg = Jardeburg = Yarb(o)rough — WHAT??

Contributed by Karen Mazock



While the spelling of the family name historically has been 'Yarborough' or 'Yarbrough", there are in fact 156 renditions of the name.

Yarb(o)rough (and variations) is a surname of Lincolnshire origin. In English it originated in Lincolnshire meaning a habitational or topographic name coming from the Old English eoröburg 'earthworks', 'fortifications', (a compound of eoröe/eoreth e 'earth', 'soil' + burg 'fortress', 'burrow'). There is a similar word in Old Danish/Norse with a similar meaning. The early Yarbroughs in England are believed to be descendants of Danish raiders who settled in Lincolnshire in the mid ninth century AD.

Yarborough Camp is a hill fort. It is hidden away discretely in woodland, but can be appreciated in the winter, when the undergrowth has died back. The exact date is unknown as there has not been a recent excavation. It gives its name to the Yarborough Wapentake, a nd was a muster point in Anglo-Saxon times. It is the kind of place that might have been used to launch an attack on the invading Saxons as it is almost certainly predates them. (Its Old English name suggests that it was a preexisting fortification in the anglo-Saxon period.)

Family researchers should never restrict their searches to a single spelling of the Yarbrough surname. Until the early 1900s, a majority of the population had little to no formal education. Thus, when a document was prepared, the scribe may have phonetically spelled the name (or, perhaps, imaginatively spelled would be more descriptive). In other cases, transcribers of old documents used their best guesstimate as to the scribbled name. Add to this the early untranslated church and parish records, and the opportunity for erroneous spellings multiply. For example, the Diocese records of New Orleans have been alternatively kept in Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, French and English. Though the following spellings are from many sources, each is a spelling variation of Yarbrough, and the list is probably not exhaustive.


Eorth-Burgh
Garbor
Garbrough
Gereburg
Jabary
Jardeburg
Tarborough*
Tarbrough
Uarbry
Yaburgh
Yarabrough
Yarba
Yarbah
Yarbar
Yarbaro
Yarbarough
Yarbary
Yarbath
Yarbaugh
Yarbaugough
Yarbaw
Yarbe
Yarbee
Yarbeory
Yarber
Yarberoth
Yarberough
Yarberrey
Yarberrie
Yarberry
Yarbery
Yarbever
Yarbey
Yarbo
Yarboarough
Yarboe
Yarbogh
Yarbois
Yarbon
Yarbor
Yarbora
Yarborah
Yarborary
Yarboraugh
Yarborey
Yarborg
Yarboro
Yarborog
Yarborough
Yarborow
Yarborro
Yarborrough
Yarborrow
Yarborrowe
Yarborroy
Yarbors
Yarborugh
Yarbory
Yarbough
Yarbour
Yarboura
Yarbourah
Yarbourgh
Yarbourgh
Yarbourou
Yarbourough
Yarboury
Yarbouy
Yarbow
Yarbowa
Yarbra
Yarbrah
Yarbraugh
Yarbraw
Yarbray
Yarbre
Yarbreay
Yarbree
Yarbrer
Yarbrey
Yarbrigh
Yarbro
Yarbroe
Yarbrogh
Yarbroh
Yarbronger
Yarbrou
Yarbrough
Yarbrought
Yarbrouy
Yarbrow
Yarbroy
Yarbrugh
Yarbry
Yarbur
Yarburg
Yarburgh
Yarburough
Yarbury
Yardeburgh
Yarebary
Yargorough
Yargrough
Yaroborough
Yarobrough
Yarrowbough
Yarsborough
Yartmigh
Yartrighe
Yarytrighe
Yaubuanck
Yaughberry
Yaurbrought
Yawbery
Ybarra*
Yearberry
Yearborgh
Yearborough
Yearborough
Yearborow
Yearbory
Yearbrough
Yearbrough
Yearbrough
Yearbry
Yearbury
Yerber
Yerberie
Yerberry
Yerborough
Yerbro
Yerbrough
Yerbrow
Yerburgh
Yerby*
Yerdeburgh
Yhrbourough
Yirbe
Yirbrough
Yirburg
Yirburry
Yirby
Yoarbrough
Yorbor
Yorboro
Yorborough
Yorbough
Yorbro
Yorbrough
Yurborouge
Yurbrough
Yurbrough
Zarboro
Zarborrough
Zarbrough
Zerburgh
The most common spellings are Yarborough, Yarbrough, Yarber, Yarbro, Yarboro, and Yarberry.

* While this name has been mistranscribed as Yarborough, be aware this is also a separate family surname.



©The Yarbrough National Genealogical & Historical Association, 2018.