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Re: Meaning of surname BABB
There is Bab el Wad, a place near Jerusalem. It's Arabic and means "gate valley". Of course Arabic is related to both Hebrew and Aramaic, so what you say is well possible. I don't know the Hebrew word though and my books are all in boxes now as we are heading for the States a week from now. So maybe Noa can help you out.
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Bab, as Arabic for gate, is unlikely to be the source of the English surname. Reaney and Wilson's dictionary has the following - "Le Babbe is a nickname from babe ... 'infant, young child'."
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I have also found these
Babb Surname Origin
(Latin / Greek) A diminutive of Barbara = Stranger, foreigner. (Origin English) the Anglo-Saxon personal name Babba of obscure origin, but perhaps, due to child-speech, and therefore connected with 'babe'.
[http://www.searchforancestors.com/surnames/origin/b/babb.php]
Bebb - listed in records back to 1596. Families with the name immigrated to the USA. A descendant, William Bebb (1802-1873) was an Ohio governor. Bebbe, Babb, Babbs, Bibb, Bibbs.
[http://www.amlwchdata.co.uk/welsh_names_and_meaning.htm]
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