Family name origins & meanings
- English : nickname for a new arrival in a place, from Middle English newe-come(n) ‘recently come’, ‘just arrived’. The intrusive -b- is the result of the influence of place names ending in -combe (see Coombe).
- Americanized form of German Neukamm, possibly arising from a misinterpretation of its etymology as neu ‘new’ + Kamm ‘comb’ (see Neukam).
- According to family tradition, Capt. Andrew Newcomb was born in England in 1618 and died in Boston, MA, in 1686, leaving family who settled both in MA and in Kittery, ME. Among his descendants was the internationally renowned astronomer Simon Newcomb (1835–1909).