CRABB
Crabb is an English surname of Anglo‑Saxon origin. It is derived from the Old English word crabba, meaning “crab.” The name is believed to have begun as a nickname, applied to an individual whose gait or manner of movement resembled the sideways walk of a crab, or whose temperament was considered crabby or irritable, as suggested by the pinching claws of the animal.
In Middle English the word crabbe persisted, and it gave rise to several orthographic variants of the surname, including Crab, Crabbe, Krabbe, and occasionally Crabby or Crabbys. These variations reflect the lack of a fixed spelling system during the early medieval period, as well as regional preferences in pronunciation and transcription.
According to the earliest surviving record, the name appears in the Pipe Rolls of Dorset for the year 1188. The entry lists a Walter Crabbe and is dated during the reign of King Henry XI, who reigned from 1154 to 1189. This attests to the name’s existence as early as the late twelfth century.
In Scotland, the surname Crabb is also recorded, sometimes attributed to Flemish origins. Historical documents note that a person named John Crabbe, an engineer, was involved in the siege of Berwick in 1319, leading to his banishment by the court of Flanders. King Robert I of Scotland granted land to John Crabbe’s descendants, who subsequently became prominent in Aberdeen over the following centuries.
Church registers provide further evidence of the name’s historical spread. For example, Maria, daughter of Johnis Crabe, was christened on 31 January 1557 at St. Andrew’s, Enfield, London. In 1563, Alice Crabb married William Allard on 14 January at St. Nicholas Acons, London. Later, Christian Crab married William Hamilton on 13 February 1629 in Edinburgh, Scotland. These records illustrate the name’s presence in both England and Scotland during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The topographical theory holds that the surname may also be linked to a “crab tree,” that is, to a crab‑apple tree or orchard. In such cases the name would describe a person who lived near or worked in proximity to this botanical feature. This explanation, while plausible, remains a secondary hypothesis compared to the nicknaming origin based on physical attributes or manner of movement.
Throughout the ensuing centuries the surname spread beyond the British Isles. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries many bearers of the name emigrated from Scotland to Ireland, to the Americas, and to Australia. In contemporary times, the name is most frequently encountered in the United States, particularly in Texas, and remains common in England, Scotland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Guernsey.
Research has also identified spelling variants that are cognate with the original English name. For instance, the German spelling Krabbe and the Dutch Krabbé share the same etymological root. The Irish prefix Mc can give rise to McCrabb, indicating “son of Crabb” in the Gaelic tradition. Other related surnames, such as Cribb, Cribbs, and Cribbe, are derived from the variant cribb, and they also denote the same crab‑related origin.
Typical given names associated with the Crabb surname
Male
- Andrew
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Simon
- Stephen
Female
- Barbara
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Helen
- Julie
- Margaret
- Mary
- Michelle
- Nicola
- Patricia
- Sally
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Crabb in...
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Morse
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There are approximately 3,776 people named Crabb in the UK. That makes it roughly the 2,467th most common surname in Britain. Around 58 in a million people in Britain are named Crabb.
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Crabb
- Lionel Crabb - Royal Navy frogman, lost at sea under mysterious circumstances (1909 to 1956)
- Stephen Crabb - Welsh politician and MP
- Graham Crabb - Musician
- Steve Crabb -
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.