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; Jeremiah Creber was married to Eleanor Cole in London in 1738. The marriage of Catherine Creeber and Edward Elliott was recorded at St. Mary's Lemisham, South London, on October 16th 1825. 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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