The origin of the name Babbitt is variously given. One authority says it is of German extraction and originating from the words, "Bube" meaning "boy" and "Hait" meaning "hood" and hence "boyhood". Letters have been received from a Spanish Genealogical Society under the impression that it was an Americanized form of Babbitto.
Certain family traditions give it a French origin, but there is no doubt that it is really the old English name of Bobbet, this being the form used by the first Edward. It is a very common English name of the present time and later immigrants to this country who settled in North Carolina have kept the name in its original form, and it is not an uncommon name throughout the South. The descendants of Edward Bobbet used the freedom of all early comers to this country in spelling their name. Very few of the early names admit of such a variety of spelling. It is found spelled with any one of the vowels in the first and last syllables, in combination with single or double "b’s" and "t’s", giving a vast variety of spellings. The same person will frequently use several varieties in the same document. In the fifth generation almost all used the form "Babbitt", which is now practically universal. One branch still uses "o" in the final syllable while several have kept a single "t" which ending was almost universal in the third and fourth generation.
The English Sumame Bobbett means "Bob," son of Robert, the syllable "ett" being a diminutive. Similarly "Babbidge" is supposed to derive from "son of Barbara". "Bobbett" was a common family name in Suffolk and Devonshire in the middle ages.
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