Lubin
A surname that likely began as a medieval saint’s name, ultimately tied to an old Germanic root meaning “dear” or “beloved.”
The #7,247 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 67,104 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Lubin is usually explained as a French surname taken from the personal name of Saint Lubin, Latinized as Leobinus or Leobin. That saint’s name is commonly linked to an older Germanic element meaning “dear” or “beloved,” related to forms built on ub- / liub-. In some historical treatments the name is also connected with older forms such as Leuhin, though the saint-name explanation is the standard one.
History
The name appears in French and Norman contexts and was borne by ordinary families as a inherited surname, not just as a given name. It also spread into literary and pastoral usage, and variants such as Lubineau and Lubis were formed from it. Some older writers also mention a separate French word lubin meaning a sea fish or, in dialectal usage, a “caprice,” but that is generally treated as distinct from the surname’s main origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A few 19th-century writers noted that Lubin could be met in French peasant names and even in pastoral poetry, giving it a distinctly rustic literary flavor.
From the historical record
“Iiubiu, or St. Luhin. The fief -"-f St. Lubin, Xorniandy (Mem. Soe. Ant. Xorui. v. 170). Ziucas. ], from De Lukes, or Luches. See Loucii. Lady Eliza de Lucas, ]27o, -svas the vridow of”
— The Norman People and their existing descendants in the British dominions and the United States