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Rabey is a name of ancient Norman origin. It arrived in England with the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Rabey family lived in Durham, in the parish of Raby, from whence their name is derived.
The surname Rabey was first found in Durham at Raby, a village that dates back to the Domesday Book where it was listed as Rabie. The place name literally means "farmstead or village at a boundary." 1 At that time, it was in Cheshire, part of the Willaston Hundred and was rather small, having land enough for one plough. 2 Today, Raby Castle stands on a 200 acre deer park near Staindrop, Durham and was originally built by John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby in the late 1300s. Since then it has been resold a few times and is today open to the public boasting one to the finest collection of artwork by old masters.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Rabey research. Another 101 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Rabey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Endless spelling variations are a prevailing characteristic of Norman surnames. Old and Middle English lacked any definite spelling rules, and the introduction of Norman French added an unfamiliar ingredient to the English linguistic stew. French and Latin, the languages of the court, also influenced spellings. Finally, Medieval scribes generally spelled words according to how they sounded, so one person was often referred to by different spellings in different documents. The name has been spelled Raby, Rabey, Rabay and others.
More information is included under the topic Early Rabey Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
To escape the political and religious persecution within England at the time, many English families left for the various British colonies abroad. The voyage was extremely difficult, though, and the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving. But for those who made it, the trip was most often worth it. Many of the families who arrived went on to make valuable contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families reveals a number of immigrants bearing the name Rabey or a variant listed above: