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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Swedish : from rapp ‘quick’, ‘prompt’; a soldier’s name, one of the monothematic names adopted by soldiers in the 17th century, before surnames became general in Sweden.
  • German : from Middle High German rapp, rabe ‘raven’ (German Rabe), hence a nickname for someone with black hair, or some other supposed resemblance to the bird. Compare Raven. In some cases the surname may have arisen from a house name, thus denoting someone who lived in a house distinguished by the sign of a raven.

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