ABBS One-Name Study

ABBS One-Name Study


A Study of the ABBS Surname World Wide!

What is a One-Name Study?

A one-name study, as defined by The Guild of One Name Studies , is a project researching all occurrences of a surname, as opposed to a particular pedigree (ancestors of one person) or descendancy (descendants of one person or couple). Some "one-namers" may restrict their research geographically, perhaps to one country, but true one-namers collect all occurrences world-wide.

About the ABBS One Name Study.

The ABBS One Name Study started in 2002. It was the result of tracing my ancestors, the ABBS from Longstanton, Cambridgeshire, England. I managed to get back to a John ABBS who arrived in Somersham, Cambridgeshire in 1732. The question is where did he come from. I started looking for any mention of the ABBS surname hoping to find him. After a few months I found that lots of other ABBS researchers were asking for my help in tracing their ABBS family. I then decided to register with the Guild of One-Name Studies. I am now in the process of collecting every occurance of the ABBS surname even though it is not directly connected with the Longstanton ABBS.

Origins of the ABBS Surname.

It has been hard trying to find the origins of the ABBS surname.

One suggestion is that Aebba, the exiled daughter of Aehelfrith King of Northumbria, fled to Scotland when he died. She later became a nun at Coldingham and subsequently Abbess of this double monastery.

Another suggestion is that a monk named ABBS, possibly a relative of EBBA and based at Durham, ran off with a nun from Coldingham, and thus founded the family of ABBS.

However at this moment I have only managed to get back as far as the 17th century where there was a concentration of ABBS in Norfolk. The main areas being Aylmerton, Runton and Buxton. With a couple turning up in Cambridgeshire.

Surname Variants.

Searching through the records there are always a few variants. This is because, until about the 1850's, most people were illiterate and there was no standard way to spell a surname.

Some of the variants are ABS, ABBES, and ABBYS.

The ABBS surname has also been found written as EBBS.

Photo Album.

Click here to see photos of Longstanton.

Abbs Records.

Click here to see what information is currently available on request.

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This is a work in progress. I welcome any questions or contributions.
You can contact me at this e-mail address