Sabin
A name that likely began as a Roman personal name meaning “Sabine,” pointing to ancestry from the ancient Sabine people of Italy.
The #6,224 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 56,176 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Sabin comes from the Roman personal name Sabinus, which literally meant “a Sabine,” that is, a member of the Sabine people of ancient Italy. In surname use, it likely started as a baptismal or personal-name surname, later becoming hereditary. Some older writers also connect it with the feminine form Sabina, which remained in use as a given name.
History
The name appears in medieval and early modern records in forms such as Sabin, Sabyn, Sabbe, and Sabey. English surname writers noted that Sabine and related forms were used as baptismal names in the surname-forming period, which helped the surname spread. In some cases, family names may also have been shortened or altered by local pronunciation and spelling.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname shares its ultimate origin with the English female given name Sabina.
From the historical record
“SAB ■) SABB \ I dim. of Sabin(e, q.v. sabbeJ 2 Bede tells us (' Hist. Eccl.' ii. 5.) that the sons of Sreberht, king of Essex (d.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)