Frequency: (1870)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
English: from Middle English abbeye, abbaye (Old French abeie, Late Latin abbatia ‘priest's house’), applied as a topographic name for someone living in or near an abbey, or an occupational name for someone working in one.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
