Rathbun
An old surname probably from a place-name, perhaps meaning “white fort” in Irish or “stumpy clearing/plain” in Welsh.
The #5,381 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 47,742 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This name is usually treated as a form of Rathbone, an old Cheshire surname recorded in medieval England. One proposed explanation is Irish Rathbane or Rathbaun, from Irish rath ‘fort, ringfort’ + bán ‘white,’ meaning ‘white fort.’ Another possibility, favored by some older writers, is a Welsh source built from rhath ‘cleared spot, plain’ and bon ‘stump, stem, stock,’ giving a sense like ‘stumpy clearing’ or ‘plain with stumps.’
History
The surname appears in English records by the 14th century, and Rathbun is a later spelling or variant of the better-known Rathbone family name. Nineteenth-century surname scholars debated whether the form ultimately came from Ireland or Wales, and the Welsh explanation was often judged the likelier of the two. In the United States, Rathbun became established as a separate surname spelling, especially in New England and the Northeast.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older references sometimes connect Rathbun with the name Rathbone and even with the Continental place-name Ratisbon, showing how uncertain surname etymology could be in 19th-century scholarship.
From the historical record
“RATHBONE"! found in i4th-cent. Cheshire RATHBUN, i Tecoids as' Rathebon, does not seem to be English, If the original bearers of the name came from Ireland it answers to the Irish Rathbane, Rathbaun = 'White Fort' [Ir. rath, a fort ; also palace + bdn, white]. If from Wales (as seems more likely), the name prob.…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)