BEBOUT was a baptismal name meaning 'the son of Barbara'. The name has spread widely in many forms throughout Europe, and has been carried to the United States. The name was borne by an enormously popular but almost certainly, non-existent saint, who according to legend was imprisoned in a tower and later put to death by her own father for refusing to recant her Christian beliefs. Occasionally the name was used of a foreigner, in particular for a Moor or one from the Barbary coast, and hence was applied to a man of swarthy appearance. It was an extremely popular given name in the 13th and 14th centuries. The earliest of the name on record appears to be Walter Babbe, who was documented in County Somerset during the reign of Edward III (1327-1377) and William Bebb of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379.