Culbert

Culbert One-Name Study

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About the study

The CULBERT One-Name study commenced in 2004. It is progressing in the data collection stage, currently focusing on the survey of birth, marriage, death, and census records worldwide to establish a basic foundation of linkages between the various Culbert family branches before undertaking more detailed research on individuals.

This study is considered small to medium in size compared to other surnames (see Frequency of Name, below). I have upwards of 33,000 individuals in my database so far. This study is challenging because: 1) the history of the surname includes abundant records of migration from Europe to other parts of the world; 2) the surname is also commonly used as a given name (e.g. Culbert L. Olson, Governor of the State of California, 1939-1943), which hampers broad searches of this name (see Footnote 1); and 3) although the origins of the surname are in Europe with a Caucasian ancestry, there is a growing population of African Americans carrying this surname who may or may not be related by birth. For this latter challenge I have yet to find any evidence of how these people became Culberts.

I am looking for CULBERT researchers in Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand to help me with this study. If interested, please contact me.

FOOTNOTE

1. The earliest use of Culbert as a given name that I have found is for the baptisms of William Platt of Dayn pish [Deane Parish?], son of Culbert, 1 June 1602 (p. 19) and Margreatt Platt of same, daughter of Culbert, 13 Februarye 1603 (p. 25. Also note this year begins on April 1 and ends on March 31) [ref. The Registers of the Parish Church of Bolton, Archibald Sparke, Ed. (1913, Tillotson & Son, Bolton, England, U.K.) (FamilySearch Books)]

Variant names

CULBERT is a variant of Old English CEOLBEORHT according to Dr. George F. Black in his 1946 book, Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History, New York Public Library, 12th printing (1999), p. 190, ISBN 0-87104-172-3. In Scotland, I have found that CULBERT is commonly interchanged with CUTHBERT, records of which go back to the 1300s.

In Ireland, the surname CULBERT may stem from CULBHEART, which is said to be a Gaelic form of 'crafty'. Crafty is related to 'wisdom,' which is a Gaelic form of CUTHBERT, and this may suggest there is a connection between these surnames. CULBRATH is an eighteenth century variant of CULBERT in County Monaghan, Ireland according to CULBERTSON researcher Dale Leppard. It is also believed that CULBERT is derived from CUTBERT, and this earlier spelling is very similar to CUTHBERT and CUTHBERTSON, and another possible reason for the close relationship between these surnames. In Ireland, I have found that the CULBERT, CULBERTSON and CUTHBERTSON surnames are sometimes used interchangeably.

There is one apparently similar surname, CULBER, for which I have yet to find any evidence that is related to CULBERT.

Although there are a multitude of variants for this surname (listed on my website, link below), none are currently registered with the Guild of One-Name Studies.

Name origin

The origins of this surname are uncertain. A majority of the earliest CULBERT records are found in Scotland. CULBERT families are known in Ireland since the 1400s in the province of Munster, according to CULBERTSON researcher Dale Leppard. However, there are some indications that many of the CULBERT immigrants to Ireland were Covenanters who emigrated from Scotland in the late 1600s.

Edward MacLysaght, in his 1999 book, The Surnames of Ireland, 6th Ed., Irish Academic Press, (Dublin, Ireland and Portland, Oregon, USA), states that CULBERT is of Huguenot (French Protestant) origin, and found mainly in Ireland's northern province of Ulster. If this origin is correct, it would suggest that CULBERT families left France with great numbers of other Huguenots destined for other parts of Europe and the British Isles in the years following the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in Paris on 24 Aug 1572. However, I have yet to find evidence of this migration among the CULBERTs.

In France today the CULBERT surname is not common. Rather, it is the COLBERT surname that is prevalent. Only a few links have been found between CULBERT and COLBERT. The COLBERT surname is the subject of a separate study being conducted by Jen Colbert-Davies. She can be reached at email: [jlcd at hotmail.co.uk]. A June 2003 version of her COLBERT website can be found at the link below.

Name frequency

At the FamilySearch website FamilySearch.org Census Search Page, 91 individuals are indexed in the 1881 British Census (inc. England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales), 620 Culbert individuals are indexed in the 1880 U.S. Census, and 256 individuals are indexed in the 1881 Canadian Census.

Distribution of the name

Over time, the CULBERTs in Europe, and particularly from Ireland and Scotland, have left their homes for the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and can now be found in many other countries throughout the world. Because most of the early Culbert records are found in Ireland and Scotland, I have developed a website to share information about CULBERT connections there (see link below).