Hobbs – Surname Saturday

Name Origin

Hob is a “pet form of Robert” and Hobbs is a patronymic form for Son of Hob, as is Hobson.

Geographical

Worldwide there are approximately 99,273 people who bear the Hobbs surname. The vast majority, over 62,000 in the United States, with England and Australia being distant second and third (about 18,000 and 8,000 respectively). Interestingly, in terms of frequency, the little country of Vanuatu has the greatest proportion of the Hobbs surname, where one in 1,644 people have the surname.

Direct Hobbs Ancestors

5.  Mary Lillian Hobbs Howell (1885-1964) LVSF-NCZ
10.  James Ashley Hobbs (1843-1920) – Family Search: M4G8-BZX
20.  George W Hobbs (1805 – 1858) – Family Search: G3WN-FZC

Historical

1920

During the 1920 Census, my wife’s great-grandfather, James Ashley Hobbs was living in Williamston, Martin County, North Carolina. There were 303 Hobbs families in North Carolina during the 1920 Census, but James was the only Hobbs that lived in Martin County. The 75-year-old widower boarded in the household of James R. Hanell. James died later, in November, that year.

1880

According to an Ancestry search, there were 829 people with the Hobbs surname enumerated in North Carolina and one family in Martin County. That family was my wife’s great-grandfather, James Ashley Hobbs, his wife Delora, two sons, Roland and Charles, and two daughters, Annie and Emily. My wife’s grandmother, Mary Lillian Hobbs, was born in 1884. And her 2^nd great-grandfather, George passed in 1859.

1840

According to Ancestry, there were 58 Hobbs families in North Carolina. My wife’s 2^nd great-grandfather, George W Hobbs, and his wife Mary were married and were raising three children in Beaufort County. They were the only Hobbs family there during the 1840 Census.

Known Hobbs relatives.

My records have identified 145 direct-line descendants of George W. Hobbs (1801-1859) and 23 known Hobbs descendants.

Sources:

• Ancestry Surname Page: https://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts
• Forebears Surnames Page: https://forebear       s.io/surnames
• Ancestry – Don Taylor’s Howell-Darling tree on Ancestry, accessed 2 Jan 2020.