However, the surname *KISBEE* is without doubt a variant of the English surname KISBY. KISBEE originated as a distinct variant around the village of Barnwell in Northamptonshire. There are two dedicated KISBEE genealogists in particular, Judith and Penny, who have been a great help to me and I don't want to take anything away from their enthusiam and hard work by registering the variant KISBEE in my One-name Study. The more the merrier, let's hope!

One family of KISBEE's reverted to using KISBY. Another family chose to become KISBIE's, but this variant died out after only 2 generations.

KISBEY existed as a surname in Ireland and may, or may not, be linked to the English KISBY's. The Northern Irish surname KISBY seems to originate from the surname CASBY.

The KESBY's of the county of Kent sometimes became KISBY's in the north of the county. Often the spellings were interchangeable. I'd love to know the origin of the Kent surname KESBY, I suspect it is different from the Fenland KISBY's.