Frequency: (1061)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
German: 1. from a personal name, a variant of Gebhardt. 2. habitational name from a place so named in Pomerania. 3. perhaps a nickname for a clown or buffoon (see Gabe 1).
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
