16,320 Global Barbour Family Members

Barbour Family History

This interesting name is of Old French origin, and is an early medieval occupational surname for a barber. The derivation is from the Old French "barbier", Anglo-Norman French "barber", from the Latin "barbarius", a derivative of "barba", beard. The barber of the Middle Ages was a skilled practitioner; he not only cut hair and shaved beards, but also acted as a surgeon and tooth-puller. Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. The development of the surname since 1221 (see below) includes the following examples: Thomas le Barber (1282, London), and Seykin le Barbier (1299, ibid...