Meaning of the Gaubert Name

A French genealogical company has suggested that 'GAUBERT' is a French version of the ancient Germanic warrior nickname 'GAUTBERHT' with 'GAUT' meaning 'God' and 'BERHT' meaning 'well - known'. It added that 'GAUBERT' was once a baptismal name and only became a surname at about the end of the Middle Ages. But this conflicts with an examination of the International Genealogical Index (IGI) compiled by the Mormon Church. The IGI records a Pierre Gaubert of 1143, another Pierre Gaubert of 1380, and a Francois Gaubert of 1466.

HRC, a British company, also suggest that 'GAUBERT' is an Old Germanic baptismal name of nickname origin. They also advised that in the Middle Ages it was common practice to add a second descriptive term to the name of the person. They reason that 'GAUBERT' is derived from 'GAUT', the name of a divinity, and "BERHT" meaning ‘brilliant’ or ‘celebrated’.

Alternatively they suggest its origin may stem from the German 'Waldberht' which has an underlying connection to the even older name of 'Waldan' meaning governor. They added that there are records showing that a French family of GAUBERT was granted arms in 1701.

Macauley Mann Heraldry gave the arms as Azure, a bend or between in chief a dove essorant argent beaked and membered gules, and in base a lion of the second and langued gules.

The arms above being -

blazon: Azure two bends argent

translation: Azure (blue ) signifies truth and loyalty. Argent (silver) denotes peace and sincerity

crest: a fleur de lis or.
HPS, another heraldic company, said that the earliest French surnames are found in the C 12th, that GAUBERT was known in England before the Norman Conquest of 1066 but was spread by the Normans, among whom it was very popular. They gave no supporting evidence for their claims.

The associated coat of arms is recorded in Rielstaps Armorial General registered in France. The Library of the University of Glasgow advised me that GAUBERT did appear in Louis Pierre d' Hozier's 'Armorial General; ou, Registres de la noblesse de France' Paris, Editions du Palais Royal, 1970. This records a Jeanne Chapt de Rastignac, wife of N. Gaubert, Seigneur de la Filolie, Colonel d'un Regiment de Dragons.

I include these last few paragraphs to illustrate why my curiosity was aroused. Until then my branch of the family had believed itself to comprise ALL of its direct descendants. From my early inquiries, The Huguenot Society were happy to suggest that our name was of Huguenot descent. There is no definitive evidence to show that any of the subsequent branches of the family in England are directly related to any ennobled French family of GAUBERT.