Recorded in the spellings of Cudbert, Cutbert, Cuthbert, and the patronymic Cudbertson, Cutbertson and Cuthbertson, this interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, but prominent in Scotland. It derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century given name "Cuthbeorht", composed of the elements "cuth", meaning famous, and "beorht", - bright. The personal name was borne by a 7th Century saint, bishop of Hexham and later of Lindisfarne, whose body, preserved in Durham Cathedral, was said to work many miracles. There are seventy-two church dedications to him, mostly in the North of England where the name has chiefly flourished, although the town of Kirkcubright is also named after the saint. Austinus filius (son of) Cudberti, is noted in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in the year1202, whilst John Cutberd is noted in the Subsidy Rolls of Cambridgeshire (1327) and William Cuthbert is listed in the Register of the Freemen of the City of York (1469). The surname is widespread in Scotland. John Cuthbertson of Aberdeen being a burgess there in 1444, whilst James Cuthbert was a charter witness in Brechin in 1566. On September 8th 1678, Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Cuthbert, was christened at the Parish of St. James, in the Barbados: these were among the earliest settlers of the name in the New World.. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Cudbriht, which was dated 1273, in the "Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307.

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