This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Kibble,' i.e. Cuboid. A strong confirmation of the view that Kibbel was an old personal name is the existence of such local names as Kibblethwaite, Kibbleworth, Kibblestone, Cobbledick, which see. The absence of prefixes in the instances below is additional evidence. I doubt not it is the Domesday Cuboid, and therefore a mere variant of Cobbold, which see.

Michael Kibbel, Huntingdonshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

William Kibbel, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Thomas Kibel, Lincolnshire, ibid.

Reginald Kibel, Lincolnshire, ibid.

Stephen Cubbel, Oxfordshire. ibid.

1523. George Kebyll and Katharine Terell: Marriage Lic. (London).

1686. Baptised — John, s. John Keeble: St. James, Clerkenwell.

1607. Thomas Keble, Suffolk, and Mary Tirrell: Marriage Lic. (Westminster).

The variants of this surname have simply run riot in our registers, especially in modern times. I append a few from one record:

1804. Married — Thomas Keable and Millicent Shepherd.- St. George, Hanover.

1806. Married — John Kibble and Ann Mary Lockley: St. George, Hanover Square.

Henry Strong and Elizabeth Kebble: ibid.

1807. — Richard Keeble and Mary Whiting: ibid.

1809. — John Kebbell and Sarah Parsons: ibid.

Perhaps from Old English Ceo(l)bald, 'nautically bold.' Alwinus Kybbel held land in Totenham, Middlesex, c. 1120 (Lawrie, p. 48). A payment was made to "the wife Kibbile" in Dunkeld, 1512 (Rent. Dunk., p. 231) Jean Kibbil was one of a trio of strenuous viragos in Paisley, 1628 (Lees, Abbey of Paisley, p. 266), James Kible in Knock was burgess of Glasgow, 1666 (Campsie), and John Kible took the Test in Paisley, 1686 (RPC., 3. ser. XI, p. 496). William Kebble. 1742 (Kilharchan).

Evidently an old personal name, whence the names of the localities Kibblestone, Kibblesworth, Kibblethwaite, &c.

From the 15th to the 17th century, Keeble, in the forms often of Keble, Kebill, and Kebyll, was a common name amongst the gentry and tradesmen of Stowmarket (H.). Keeble is still a Stowmarket name. William Keeble, a native of Newton, was rector of Ringshall in 1644 (P.). In the 13th century, Kibel, Kibbel, and Kebbel were names found in the adjacent counties of Cambridge and Hunts, as well as in those of Lincoln and Oxford (H. R.). There are Kibbles now in Bucks and Warwickshire.

Kibble, a name at present also found in Bucks and as Keeble in Suffolk, is an ancient name represented 600 years ago in different forms in the Hundred Rolls for Hunts, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, etc.