Colben

Male
CPL
4 of 5

Discussion of the name

Colben was a name of Scandinavian origin, formed from the elements kol ‘coals’ (and hence probably ‘dark colouring’) and bein ‘bone, leg’. In Denmark it was commoner as a byname than a given name (von Feilitzen 1937: 306; Fellows Jensen 1968: 177, 345, 348), and that may be its origin in England too, though it was widespread enough to be regarded by the eleventh century as an ordinary given name. The normalized ON and ODan forms are Kolbeinn and Kolben respectively, but all the spellings of the name in England start with C–, and that is the form preferred here.

Later forms of the name from eastern England have the second part as –bain more commonly than –bein or –ben ; Fellows Jensen 1968: 177; Reaney 1997: 104), but that is not necessarily a guide for Cheshire. Hence DB’s spelling in –ben is used here.

The name was identical with that borne by a moneyer working at the Chester mint c. 1040–2 (EMC 1040.1775) and by the same or another moneyer at Derby c. 1059–62 (EMC 1002.1145). Only a single coin from each moneyer is known, and the die-cutters spelled the name Colbeinn at Chester and Colbin at Derby. Their names are recorded in PASE as Colbeinn 1 and 2.

Bibliography

EMC: On-line Early Medieval Corpus of Coin Finds/Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/dept/coins/emc

Fellows Jensen 1968: G. Fellows Jensen, Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire (Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag, 1968)

DLV: The Durham Liber Vitae. London, British Library, MS Cotton Domitian A.VII: Edition and Digital Facsimile with Introduction, Codicological, Prosopographical and Linguistic Commentary, and Indexes, ed. D. W. Rollason and L. Rollason, 3 vols. (London: British Library, 2007)

Reaney 1997: P. H. Reaney, A Dictionary of English Surnames, 3rd edn with corrections and additions by R. M. Wilson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997)

Forms of the name

Spellings in Domesday Book: Colben

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: ON Kolbeinn, OSw Kolben

  Phillimore edition: Colben

  Alecto edition: Kolben

Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

Holder 1066

Shire Phil. ref. Vill DB Spelling Holder 1066 Lord 1066 Tenant-in-Chief 1086 1086 Subtenant Fiscal Value 1066 Value 1086 Value Conf. Show on Map
Cheshire 26,12 Lach Dennis Colben Colben 'of Lach Dennis' - Hugh, earl Moran 0.50 0.00 0.40 - Map
Cheshire 9,27 Goostrey Colben Colben 'of Lach Dennis' - Hugh, earl William fitzNigel 0.25 0.00 0.00 - Map
Totals