Frequency: (241)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Variant spelling of German Fräbel, from a field name or nickname from Middle Low German vrevel ‘brave’, ‘bold’, later ‘impudent’, ‘heinous’.
2. Respelling of German Fröbel, a topographic name for someone living near a willow tree, from Slavic vrba ‘willow tree’.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
