Rab

Attested across 21 languages in the etymology graph.

Rab is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate name3 spellings in the group

  Also written Ráb, Råb

• English surname8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, United Kingdom, Australia

  Also written Ŗäb, Řab, Räb, Rąb, Řãb

• Russian surname31 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Ukraine, Croatia, Poland

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Croatian

  Also written Раб, Руб, Ромб, Rub, Ráb

• French surname6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Belgium, Algeria

  Also written Řāb, Ràb, Rāb, Råb

• German surname3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Germany, Austria, United States, United Kingdom

  Also written Ráb

57 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Rab is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Arabic, lord, master. One of the names of Allah

  as a name·A Dictionary of Muslim Names

• In Hungarian, prisoner

  as a word·Etymological Dictionary of Hungarian

• In Indonesian, initialism of rencana anggaran belanja (“budget estimate plan”)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, rest, remainder, leftovers, extra food; (especially) in a canteen, where using which, one can ask for some extra food from the cook or canteen service

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In mww, classifier for implements tools, utensils, i.e. for things with a handle and used with the hands

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Zsuzsa Rabb. 1926HUHungarian poet (1926–1998)
• István Rabb. 1930HUballet dancer (1930–2020)
• Tibor Rabb. 1955HUHungarian footballer

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

37 registers and reference works attest this spelling, across 18 countries.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What are other forms of the name Rab?

In the etymology graph, Roberts, Berto and Brecht are forms of the same name in other languages.

What does the name Rab mean, and where does it come from?

Czech rabuse 'notched tally stick'; also related to Slavic rab 'servant' Recorded by Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung.

Which countries have the most people with the surname Rab?

Mondonomo estimates about 4.5 thousand people named Rab in Bangladesh, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled rab. After it come Pakistan, United States, France and Czechia; the country table on this page ranks them.

How common is the name Rab?

In the United States, the national register counted 337 people named Rab in 2010, about 1 in 987 thousand residents.

How common is Rab compared with other names?

In Bangladesh, Rab is the 581st most common surname of 12,312 surnames recorded there.