Drabble (surname)
Drabble is a British surname.
Origins
Two possible origins have been suggested for the name. One possible source is a derivation from an Old English personal name "Drabbe", from before the 7th-century. This is recorded as a name of a Peterborough festerman, in 963 - 992, in A. J. Robertson's Anglo Saxon Charters.[1] Modern surnames may be a diminutive of this, but the etymology is uncertain. The name is also likely to have its origins in a modern English word "drab". Although not recorded before the 16th century, this is associated with the Irish Gaelic "drabog", meaning slattern; this would have been given as a nickname, perhaps to the child of an untidy person. The first recorded spelling of the family name is that of Robert Drabe, dated 1161, in the "Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire", during the reign of King Henry II, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189.[2]
Notable people with the surname
- Eric Frederic Drabble (1877–1933), English botanist
- Frank Drabble (1888–1964), English footballer
- Gareth Drabble (born 1990), rugby union player
- Geoff Drabble (born 1959), British businessman
- Margaret Drabble (born 1939), English novelist, biographer, and critic
- Phil Drabble (1914–2007), English author and television presenter
References
- Robertson, A. J. (17 December 2009). "Anglo-Saxon Charters". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 28 February 2019 – via Google Books.
- "Surname Database: Drabble Last Name Origin". The Internet Surname Database. Retrieved 28 February 2019.