This English surname of ANNABLE and its variants Honniball, Hunneyball, Hannibal, Honneybell, Hunnibell and Hunnable was originally derived from a given name of uncertain origin, perhaps from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements 'hun' (bear-cub) and 'bald' (bold and brave). It could also have been an altered form of the female given name Anabel. The was was probably brought into England in the wake of the Norman Invasion of 1066. HANNIBAL (247-182 BC) was the Carthaginian soldier, the son of Hamilcar. In his ninth year his father bade him swear eternal enmity to Rome. He served in Spain under Hamilcar and Hasdrubal; elected general after the assassination of Hasdrubal he reduced all southern Spain up to the Ebro (221-219), with the exception of the Iberian town of Saguntum. After years of conflict Hannibal turned his genius to political reforms. He died by taking poison when the Romans demanded his surrender. Surnames as we recognise them today are believed to have been introduced by the Normans after the Invasion of 1066. The first mention of such names appears in the Domesday Book and they were progressively adopted between the 11th and 15th centuries. It was the nobles and upper classes who first assumed a second name, setting them apart from the common people who continued to use only the single name given to them at birth. It was not until the reign of Edward II (1307-1327) that is became common practice to use a secondary name, originally a name reflecting the place of birth, a nickname, an occupational name or a baptismal name which had been passed on from a parent to the child, as an additional means of identification. Other records of the name mention Anabilia (without surname) documented in Buckinghamshire in 1273. Peter filius Annabel, 1311, ibid. Later instances of the name include Thomas Hannyball who registered at Oxford University in the year 1513. William Green and Margaret Hanniball were married at St. George's, Hanover Square, London in the year 1805.