Family name origins & meanings
- Arabic : from an ancient Arabic personal name based on the word ̣harb ‘war’. The Prophet Muhammad counseled against giving children names such as ̣Harb, associated with violence. Nevertheless, the name has survived and flourishes in some places in the Arabic-speaking world.
- German : of uncertain derivation. Possibly a topographic name for someone living by a swamp, Old High German hor. It is also found in Switzerland, eastern Slovenia, and elsewhere.