- Reber
Reber is a last name originating from Germany. It is primarily located in
Pennsylvania but has large numbers in Ohio, California, Minnesota and Utah. [ [http://names.whitepages.com/last/Reber Reber as a last name : WhitePages.com ] ] According to Ancestry.com it is dereived from two sources.
German and Swiss German: occupational name for a vine-dresser or vintner, from Middle High German rebe ‘vine’ + -er agent suffix. German and Swiss German: from a Germanic personal name, Radobert, formed with rad, rat ‘counsel’, ‘advice’ + berht ‘bright’. [Ancestry.com]
Württemberg Rebers
In the days before Bismarck when Germany was divided into more than three hundred-and-sixty separate city-states, the Württemberg Rebers were working the fields of a German nobleman in the province known today as Baden-Württemberg. A lord whose fief was adjacent to their Master's Kingdom one day attempted to annex the farm and land the folk were tending. He invaded with a small band of mounted men and men-at-arms. The farmers, however, did not succumb to the force that outnumbered them. Armed only with farm tools and axes, they were able to meet the intruders with equal strength and held off the attack.
Their Master was so impressed by the folk's valor and tenacity that he bestowed upon them the land, a crest, and the name REBER, which in the German language means "clinging vine."
The Württemberg Reber Family crest is most appropriate for this story. The red chevron denotes a name awarded in battle. The silver background is the color of true fealty. The three roses have a quadripartite meaning. The rose signifies love; and in this instance it represents the family's love toward God's Fourth Commandment—Honor thine Father and thine Mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you—as was demonstrated in defense of the land on behalf of their Master. The three roses depict the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The five thorns on each rose typify a clinging vine, the name given to them. The gold seeds within the roses symbolize honor.Because of its great significance, the REBER CREST is described in the German Book of Names and Rietstap's Armorial General.
References
1. http://names.whitepages.com/last/Reber
2. http://www.ancestry.com
3. Reber Family Crest is at: http://www.family.reber.org/
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.