TIMBS
Timbs is an English surname of medieval origin. It is derived from the personal name Tim – a diminutive of Timothy – combined with the patronymic suffix s, which indicates “son of”. The name was probably first used as a nickname for someone who was known to be timid or shy.
The surname is also recorded in a number of other forms, including Tims, Timms, Timmes, Timson, Tyms and Tymms. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the name occurred in forms such as Tymmes and Timme, which are linked to the Old English personal name Tima. This itself is a later development of the Germanic name Timmo, a short form of Dietmar. The element theudo means “people” or “race” and the element meri or mari means “famous”.
Early documentary evidence for the surname is found in the Subsidy Rolls of Warwickshire, where a William Tymmes is recorded in 1332 during the reign of King Edward the First. Later records include Richard Tyms at New Colleg, Oxford in 1565, the christening of James Timms in 1699 at St. Sepulchre's, and the marriage of Edward Timbs and Henrietta Maria Smith at St. Antholins Church, London, in 1752.
Another popular etymological explanation links the surname to the Old English word timbr, meaning “timber”. Under this interpretation Timbs would have been a nickname for a person who worked as a carpenter or woodcutter, and the name would have been associated with the timber trade which was a significant economic activity in medieval Britain. Evidence of this occupational link has been found in both Britain and the American colonies.
In the post Norman period the name entered Ireland, where it is most frequently found in the counties of Cork and Limerick. The migration of English settlers in the seventeenth century is thought to have introduced the surname to the Irish backwater. The result is a distribution of Timbs across Britain, Ireland, Australia and the United States, with concentrations in the United Kingdom, Tasmania, Texas, California, Michigan and Missouri.
Contemporary bearers of the surname have been noted for an entrepreneurial spirit and a propensity for leadership. The name continues to be used in a variety of professional domains, ranging from business and politics to agriculture and the culinary arts. The diversity of occupations of modern holders reflects the broader social mobility that has characterised English surnames since the Early Modern period.
The surname Timbs possesses a number of closely related surnames, such as Timm, Timmons, Timson, Tymbleson and Timbson. These variants all have their earliest recorded uses in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in England, and each bears a distinct but interconnected etymology either as a patronymic or a topographical reference.
Because of its multiple possible origins – personal name, occupational nickname, or topographical marker – the surname Timbs illustrates the complex processes by which English family names were formed and evolved. Its recorded history, which begins in the early fourteenth century, provides a window on the social, linguistic and migratory patterns of the communities that carried the name.
Typical given names associated with the Timbs surname
Male
- Alexander
- Andrew
- Anthony
- David
- Graham
- Hedley
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Patrick
- Peter
- Richard
- Trevor
Female
- Carolyn
- Claire
- Emma
- Fiona
- Iris
- Karen
- Kathleen
- Laura
- Louisa
- Mary
- Natalie
- Pamela
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Timbs in...
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There are approximately 113 people named Timbs in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around two in a million people in Britain are named Timbs.
Famous people named Timbs
- John Timbs - Journalist (1801 to 1875)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.