Dunbabin Family History

Reaney interprets the name as a Middle English nickname ‘dun (dark) Babbin’ where Babbin is assumed to be an unrounded form of *Bobbin which he supposes to be a rhyming form of Robin. This is theoretically possible but difficult to assess without evidence for the identity of Babbin (or Bobbin) and Robin.

Middle English dun ‘dark’ is not otherwise attested as a qualifier of a personal name though it would fit the pattern of names with Middle English broun ‘brown’.

(see Brownjohn and compare Horrabin ‘grey Robin’).