9,500 Global Harbin Family Members

Harbin Family History

Recorded as Arban, Arbin, Arboin, Arboine, Arbouin, Arbon, Harben, Harbin, Harbert, Harberd, and possibly others, this is of English or in some cases, possibly Welch, origins. It may derive from a fused form of the pre 7the century Anglo-Saxon name 'Hari-beret', the later Herbert and translating as 'army bright,' or from the pre 12th century Welsh 'Ap or Ab Owen' meaning 'the son of Owen' and often found in the surname of Bowen. In either case the surname is one of the survivors from a period when the original Olde English and Welsh names were largely submerged by the inrush of biblical names from in particular the Holy Land and Greece.