Dreibelbis redux
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You may remember the "Customer Experience Manager" named Steven Dreibelbis whom I met in a Home Depot about half a year ago (see the post I wrote about him and his surname, the first entry in "Selected readings" below). This afternoon, I received the following communication from his father:
This is James (Jim) Dreibelbis, father of the Steven Dreibelbis mentioned in the original post on your Language Log. Steven's son, Esteban Dreibelbis, a student at Drexel, found and sent me this interesting discussion on our family name.
Some years ago I was historian for the Dreibelbis Cousins of America, an association of Dreibelbis related individuals, so I can provide some relevant background. The Dreibelbis are all descendants (with their relations) of John Jacob Dreibelbis, who came to Philadelphia from Rotterdam on the ship Mary of London, on September 26, 1732. He was the son of Jacob Treibelbiss of Hassloch, Germany, though the family had moved there from the village of Hemmenthal, in the Canton of Schauffhausen, Switzerland.
Previous family historians who had researched our family genealogy concluded that in Switzerland the family name was Dubelbeis. Regardless, the thought is that the name Dreibelbis originated on John Jacob's arrival, because the English agents receiving German speaking immigrants in the port of Philadelphia wrote names as they sounded, so Johann Jacob Treibelbiss became John Jacob Dreibelbis. John Jacob initially worked out his indenture with the Wister family in Philadelphia, later settling in Berks County, PA, near the village of Fleetwood.
That is a very short summary of our Dreibelbis origins. We have two massive Dreibelbis History books researched and published by my Historian predecessors, and presently, an online database (on Ancestry.com) well managed by our current historian, which lists over 20,000 Dreibelbis cousins. I can provide more, if interested, probably not on the Language Log, as that would be significantly off topic.
Notes
For many years, my brother Thomas Lee Mair maintained a fascinating website on devil's bridges.
One of our most dedicated readers and contributors is June Teufel Dreyer (of Swabian ancestry).
Selected readings
- "'Devil' with an initial 'dr-' consonant cluster" (12/20/25)
- "Devil's Bridge" — WP
cameron said,
May 13, 2026 @ 9:11 pm
in the early 90s I was a grad student in State College PA. that's where the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) can be found. you may have heard of it.
in one of the classes to which I was assigned as an Instructor, there was a young woman whose surname was Dreibelbis. after a few weeks I became curious about that name — wondering what it meant. what's a "Belbis"? was my thinking
before I went to the library to hit the serious German language dictionaries, I looked at the phone book. in the early 90s we had physical phone books delivered to our addresses. in the Centre County, PA phone book there were several columns of people with the surname Dreibelbis
Philip Taylor said,
May 14, 2026 @ 4:59 am
"Previous family historians who had researched our family genealogy concluded that in Switzerland the family name was Dubelbeis" — Fascinating. Another variant on the "Doublebois" / "Dobwalls" names found near Liskeard in Cornwall, S.E. England.
Rodger C said,
May 14, 2026 @ 9:27 am
Google confirms my hunch that this is also the origin of the name DeVilbiss, known for their spray guns.
Athel Cornish-Bowden said,
May 15, 2026 @ 3:37 am
Doublebois in Cornwall looks as if it should be pronounced as it would be in French, but actually it is pronounced likre "double boys" in English.
Philip Taylor said,
May 15, 2026 @ 4:14 am
Oh, I agree that that is how "Doublebois" is pronounced today, Athel, but do we know how it was pronounced when the place was first named ?
Steve Mitchell said,
May 18, 2026 @ 7:59 pm
Twenty thousand Dreibelbis cousins?! I'm picturing the annual family picnic needing its own zip code and perhaps a designated traffic controller. Mr. Dreibelbis, your dedication to genealogy is truly something else I struggle to keep track of my immediate family on a group chat! It sounds like the Dreibelbis family isn't just a tree, it's an entire forest with its own census bureau. Bravo!