I have been researching the genealogy of the Turbott family in New Zealand and its branches in Australia since around the turn of the century. Most Turbotts in this country are descended from James and Catherine Turbott, who came to New Zealand from County Tyrone in Ireland in 1856. A number of family members have had autosomal testing with various companies - Ancestry, Family tree DNA, My Heritage, 23 and Me. Two males have had Y testing.

The one name study was registered in 2019. It is hoped to gather more extensive information about Turbotts in Ireland, possibly then those in England and North America.

Turbott is an uncommon variant of a relatively uncommon surname, but it is the one most common in New Zealand.

Worldwide the more common variants are Turbitt and Turbett. Whether all are descended from a common ancestor remains to be seen.

The name generally is held to have originated as the personal name Thorbert, an Old Norse/Germanic (Anglo-Saxon) compound formed from the name of the god Thor and a descriptor meaning bright or illustrious. I hypothesize that this first was used in the parts of England under Danish influence in the 8-9th centuries and became a surname in the 12-13th century. I have discussed this in more detail in an article "A Turbott One-Name Study" published in the Journal of One-Name Studies, October-December 2019.

Uncommon.

Primarily in English speaking countries, England, Scotland, Ireland, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand.

Two Turbott males who have Y-tested have haplogroup R1a1a, one on full testing has terminal SNP YP-6042 with suggested origin north-west Europe or Scandinavia.