The Origins of the family name Ditchburn

Spelling variations of this family name include: Ditchburn, Ditchbynre, Dishburn, Dichburn, Dechburn, Decheburn and many more.
First found in Northumberland where they were anciently seated on the English/Scottish border. Their seat was at ‘Ditchburn’ in the parish of Ellingham.
After the Norman Conquest of England many of Duke William's rebellious Barons moved north. The border became a convenient no-man's land. Notable families such as the Percy, the Umfravilles and the Nevilles gathered many supporting clans around them.
In the 16th century they became known as the 'unruly clans'. In that century, many of those clans drove their herds south, and they settled in Yorkshire and Lancashire.
The name was first recorded in Cumberland as well as Northumberland.
Some of the first American settlers of this family name or some of its variants were settlers who arrived along the eastern seaboard, from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands.