Note

The names Tabcharani, Tebechrani, Tibishrani, Tibshirani, Tabsharani are no doubt the same in Arabic but they are just spelled a bit differently in English.
تبشراني - In Arabic formally spelled: (Tàb'Chà'Rä'Ni)

Origin

The Tabcharani Family comes originally from the Lebanese village of Tabshar where it used to be living until around the 17^th century. The village of Tabshar (or Tbshar) is located near the villages of Nabi Shit and Seri’in in Baalbeck region very close to the Syrian border and at the bottom of Mount Kalamoun. In the Syrian part of Mount Kalamoun, there are some very old and important towns and villages like Saydanaya, Maaloula, Nabak, Kara, Yabrud, Deir Attieh, etc that are well known for their vestiges, monasteries and ancient Christian presence; this influenced the religious faith and devotion of the Tabcharani family.

Name

Tabshar, the name of the village, derived from the word "Tabshour" in Arabic meaning chalk in English, presumably due to its chalky type of soil.
Most of Tabshar inhabitants were peasants working in agriculture planting fruit trees and vegetables.

Historical Aspect

Due to problems they had with the intolerant Harfoushi princes who were the rulers of the Baalbeck region at that time, the Tabcharanies were obliged to leave their village sometime around the 17^th century (I am still trying to find the exact year). Consequently, they took refuge in Mount Lebanon (where they were called Tabcharani meaning originally coming from Tabshar) which had, at that time, a relatively autonomous status inside the Ottoman Empire. Now, the Tabcharani family is dispersed in many towns and villages in Lebanon like Bteghrine , Baskinta , Shweir , Douma, Kfara’ab, Zahle, Shlifa, Oussaya, Kab Elias, etc.

On the other hand, the family has many branches, who have adopted other surnames like the families Yafet (in Shweir and Douma and now in Brazil), Abu Shikh (Kfara'ab), Nakad (in Zahle where the family used to be called el Khouri Nakad el Tabcharani) and Lawandios.

Immigration

Moreover, since the end of the 19^th century, a large number of the Tabcharani family started to emigrate to the new world mainly to the USA and Brazil.

In addition, the historian Issa Iskandar Maaluf in his book "Dawani El Kotouf" says that the Saba family (in Zahle, Baskinta, Souk el Gharb and El Hosn) and the Tabcharani family both came from the same origin Tabshar. This tends to imply that the two families, Saba and Tabcharani, are not only from the same origin but used to belong to the same family or tribe too; part of them took the surname of Saba and the other part took the surname of Tabcharani. This fact can be better understood when Maaluf in his same book page 688 said while talking about the origin of the Saba family in Kfara’ab: "The Saba family: Their grandfather Younes Saba el Tabcharani came to Kfara’ab from Betghrine at the beginning of the 18^th century.

The Tabcharani family is well known for its devotion to the Christian Greek Orthodox faith. In fact, the family gave many priests and nuns to the Church as well as helped in building many churches in their new villages of adoption.

For example, the family was deeply behind the construction of Saint Mama Orthodox Church (1) in Baskinta as shows the writing above its entrance "The church of Martyr Saint Mama was built during the mandate of Archbishop Policarpos by the initiation and help of Father Abdallah Tabcharani the wise in 1762".

Furthermore, in Douma, the family built a church dedicated to Saint Elias in 1853; its first priest was father Ayyoub Ibrahim Nasrallah Abu Shedid el Tabcharani (2).

On the other hand, the Saba family in Zahle constructed the first church in this city Saydet el Zalzale for the Virgin Mary (1) at the beginning of the 18^th century.

Last but not least, the Tabcharani family that left its original village Tabshar and took refuge in Mount Lebanon then left its new villages and emigrated massively into the new world is one of many other families from Lebanon and Syria who left their homeland and marked positively their new countries of adoption .

Former Governor of Beirut,
Nicolas Najib Saba

References:
(1) History of Baskinta and its families – Bishop Boutros Hobeika.
(2) History of St. John the Baptist Monastery – Douma and the Orthodox population in the region.