Explore the Family Name Raby

The meaning of Raby

1. English: habitational name from Raby (Cheshire), recorded as Raby from 1096–1101, Raby in Holme East Waver (Cumberland), recorded as Rabi c.1150, or Raby in Staindrop (Durham), recorded as Raby c.1050. The placenames probably derive from Old Norse rá ‘boundary, pole’ + bȳ ‘farmstead, village, settlement’, though the Durham placename may derive from Old Norse rá ‘roe, roe buck’ + bȳ, as it does not lie on a known boundary. 2. English: in some cases, a variant of Robey. Additionally, in southwestern England and the Channel Islands there appears to be a further source for the name, maybe a diminutive of Robert. 3. Altered form of French Desrabines (via the intermediate form Daraby): habitational name, with fused preposition and definite article des ‘from the’, denoting someone from Les Rabines, the name of a few places in Brittany. The surname Desrabines is not found in France. Compare Roby 3. 4. French: regional variant of Rabin. 5. German: habitational name from Raby in Bohemia or perhaps from Rabingen in Lower Saxony. 6. Hungarian: probably from a pet form of the rare old personal name Rabán, from Latin Rabanus. History: The surname Raby of French origin developed in part from a secondary surname or dit (‘also called’) name, borne by Jean Guillaume dit Desrabines (also Deraby/Daraby) from Trébédan in Côtes-d’Armor, Brittany (France), who married Marie-Françoise Cordier in Sault-au-Récollet, QC, in 1741. His descendants also bear the surname Roby.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Raby in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname "Raby" has slightly decreased between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 7087th most popular surname, but by 2010, it had slipped to 7319th place, marking a change of -3.27%. Despite this drop in rank, the actual count of individuals with the Raby name increased from 4352 in 2000 to 4559 in 2010, reflecting a growth of 4.76%. However, when viewing the proportion per 100k people, there is a slight decrease from 1.61 in 2000 to 1.55 in 2010.

20002010Change
Rank#7,087#7,319-3.27%
Count4,3524,5594.76%
Proportion per 100k1.611.55-3.73%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Raby

On the subject of ethnicity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census demonstrates some notable changes within the Raby family. There has been a significant increase in the Asian/Pacific Islander representation, going from 0.32 in 2000 to 0.92 in 2010. This signifies an impressive growth of 187.50%. The Hispanic portion also saw a sizeable rise of 51.41%, moving from 1.42 to 2.15. On the other hand, the percentage of White individuals with the Raby surname fell slightly from 82.93 to 81.55, while those identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native decreased by 40.44% over the decade. The proportion of Black individuals and those identifying with two or more races both saw marginal increases during this period.

20002010Change
White82.93%81.55%-1.66%
Black12.66%13.05%3.08%
Hispanic1.42%2.15%51.41%
Two or More Races1.31%1.51%15.27%
Asian/Pacific Islander0.32%0.92%187.5%
American Indian and Alaskan Native1.36%0.81%-40.44%

Raby ancestry composition

23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Raby is British & Irish, which comprises 49.5% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are French & German (22.7%) and Scandinavian (4.0%). Additional ancestries include Nigerian, Eastern European, Spanish & Portuguese, Iranian, Caucasian & Mesopotamian, and Indigenous American.

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ANCESTRY BREAKDOWNCOMPOSITION
British & Irish49.5%
French & German22.7%
Scandinavian4.0%
Other23.9%
Raby

Possible origins of the surname Raby

Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.

Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Raby have recent ancestry locations in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland.

RECENT ANCESTRY LocationPercentage
Lancashire, United Kingdom79.00%
West Midlands, United Kingdom79.00%
Merseyside, United Kingdom79.00%
Greater Manchester, United Kingdom79.00%
Greater London, United Kingdom79.00%

What Raby haplogroups can tell you

Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.

The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Raby is O-F2415, which is predominantly found among people with East Asian & Indigenous American ancestry. Haplogroup O-F2415 is descended from haplogroup O-M1359. Other common haplogroups include E-M183 and O-F2859, which are predominantly found among people with European and East Asian & Indigenous American ancestry.

The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Raby surname are: N, H1, H. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.

rabyPaternal Haplogroup Origins O-M1359
Paternal Haplo Image

Your paternal lineage may be linked to the Cham

One of the many populations harboring members of haplogroup O1b1a1a1a1 is the Cham ethnic group, a group of people who speak Austronesian languages in Mainland Southeast Asia. Austronesian languages make up a language family that is extremely large and widespread, comprising over 350 million people on islands such as Madagascar, Easter Island, and many others. However, Austronesian languages are less common on mainland Asia, with a notable exception being the Chamic language. Research suggests that ancestors of the Cham people migrated from Southeast Asian islands to the mainland around the year 500 BCE, and that early Cham populations quickly began mixing with indigenous southern Vietnamese populations. As a result, the Chamic language now has words that were borrowed from languages spoken by indigenous Vietnamese people. It is likely that an ancestral Kinh population was one of the populations that mixed with the Cham people shortly after their migration to mainland Asia.

Your maternal lineage may be linked to Marie Antoinette

Because it is so dominant in the general European population, haplogroup H also appears quite frequently in the continent's royal houses. Marie Antoinette, an Austrian Hapsburg who married into the French royal family, inherited the haplogroup from her maternal ancestors. So did Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose recorded genealogy traces his female line to Bavaria. Scientists also discovered that famed 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus traced his maternal lineages to haplogroup H.

Maternal Haplo Image

What do people with the surname Raby have in common?

Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.

Preferences

Raby

Chocolate Ice Cream

Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.

"Raby" Surname 38.7%

23andMe Users 41.3%

Traits

Raby

Cheek Dimples

Small indentations that appear on the cheeks when a person smiles.

"Raby" Surname 26.9%

23andMe Users 37.6%

Habits

Raby

Sugary Drink

Drinks one or more sugary drinks per day.

"Raby" Surname 23.3%

23andMe Users 21.1%

Wellness

Raby

Migraine

A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

"Raby" Surname 23.5%

23andMe Users 16.4%

Are health conditions linked to the last name Raby?

The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.

Disease variant frequency by ancestry

Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Raby are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Y402H variant

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible vision loss among older adults. The disease results in damage to the central part of the retina (the macula), impairing vision needed for reading, driving, or even recognizing faces. The 23andMe Health + Ancestry DNA test includes the two most common variants associated with an increased risk of developing the condition: the Y402H variant in the CFH gene and the A69S variant in the ARMS2 gene. Learn more about Age-Related Macular Degeneration

British & Irish 62.1%

23andMe Users 57.2%