This very uncommon and interesting name is of medieval German origin, and has two possible interpretations. Firstly, it may be from a metonymic occupational name for a basket-maker or seller, and secondly it may be a metonymic occupational name for a pedlar, who carried his goods around in a basket. In both cases, the derivation is from the Middle High German "korb", basket, a development of the Old High German "churp", from the Latin "corbis". The modern surnames generated from "korb" can be found as Korb, Korber, Kerber and the transposed forms Kreber, Kreeber, Creber and Creeber. The surname was introduced into England in the early 18th Century; among the recordings of the name in London are those of the marriage of Jeremiah Creber and Eleanor Cole, at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, on February 25th 1738, and the christening of Robert Matting Creber, son of James and Catherine, at St. Paul's, Deptford, on April 6th 1796. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hans Kreber (marriage to Anna Stutz), which was dated May 3rd 1573, Jagstkreis, Wuertt, Germany, during the reign of Maximiliam 11, "Holy Roman Emperor", 1564 - 1576. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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