Family name origins & meanings
- German : from an agent derivative of Middle High German graben ‘to dig or excavate’, hence an occupational name for a digger of graves or ditches, or an engraver of seals. This name is also found in the German-speaking part of Switzerland.
- Jewish (Ashkenazic) : occupational name for a grave-digger, either from German Gräber or from a Yiddishized form of Polish grabarz.