Family name origins & meanings
- North German : from Middle Low German krabbe ‘small crab’, ‘shrimp’, ‘prawn’, hence a metonymic occupational name for someone who caught or sold shellfish or a nickname for a lively person.
- Dutch, Danish, and Swedish : from Middle Dutch crabbe, Old Norse krabbi ‘crab’, hence a metonymic occupational name for someone who caught or sold shellfish or perhaps a nickname for someone with a peculiar gait.