Reef
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Frequency: (192)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
North German: of disputed origin; either a metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of rope, from Middle Low German reep ‘rope’, or alternatively, a nickname for a feeble or very thin person, from Middle Low German ref, rif ‘body’, ‘skeleton’.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
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Copyrights:
Oxford Dictionary of Family Names
Dictionary of American Family Names. Copyright © 2006 Patrick Hanks. All rights reserved.
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