Frequency: (135)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. French: from a dialect variant of rabe ‘turnip’, ‘oilseed rape’ (itself a southern form of rave); a metonymic occupational name for a grower of turnips or rape, or perhaps a derisory nickname.
2. Hungarian (Rába): habitational name from a place called Rába, or alternatively a topographic name for someone who lived by the river Rába, a tributary of the Danube in western Hungary. The name also occurs in Germany.
GIVEN NAME German 4%. Manfred.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
