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General Information
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.What's in a name?
Brewer's Dictionary of Names suggests that the surname Hebblethwaite is derived from the place so called near Sedbergh in Cumbria, England (see below). A thwaite, (from the Old Norse thveit), is a clearing or meadow, and the prefix, hebble, is a dialect term for a type of plank bridge.
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Hebblethwaite Clusters
A study of the geographical distribution of a surname can reveal interesting clusters. In Great Britain, Lancashire has the largest cluster of Hebblethwaites, with others in Yorkshire, Tyneside, and Humberside. There are also representatives in the Midlands, Home Counties, and Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. Few Hebblethwaites have migrated into Scotland or Wales. 

The table below  illustrates data from 1993 (Halbert's Family Heritage) showing the distribution of 212 Hebblethwaite addresses.

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Area
Distribution %
North East
North West
Home Counties
West Midlands
East Midlands
South West
London
Wales 
Scotland
South East
35.2
19.9
15.7
8.8
6.0
5.6
3.2
2.8
1.4
1.4
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Hebblethwaites would also appear to have been early settlers in the new world. The same source records 98 addresses in the USA with the greatest cluster being in Missouri. Canada is shown to have 38 addresses, mainly in Ontario, and Hebblethwaites are also to be found in Australia (26 addresses, with the greatest cluster in Victoria). Few families are recorded in Europe.
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