Family name origins & meanings
- North German : nickname from Low German Naber ‘neighbor’. Compare Neighbor.
- Southwestern German : from a personal name given in honor of St. Nabor; or a habitational name from a place in Alsace. In Württemberg there is a place name Nabern, derived from the river name Naber, which might have contributed to the surname.
- German : occupational name for a maker of wheel hubs, Middle High German nabegēr, from nabe ‘hub’.