In this light-hearted section, we list how different members of this global family pronounce their family name, and report how others mis-pronounce, poke fun at, mangle or otherwise abuse it!
CRABILL (New York/Connecticut) --We pronounce it "KRAY-ble" but in general have given up on anyone being able to spell it, especially since we don't use the "Y." The most common mispronunciation is "Crabble" followed by "Crab-hill" (although where the "h" comes from remains a mystery). - Casey Crabill, Danielson, Connecticut (submitted March 9, 1996)
CRABILL (Virginia) -- I totally agree with Casey's statement above. I always tell people that my maiden name "couldn't be spelled if you heard it pronounced, and couldn't be pronounced if you saw it spelled." And somehow at one point in my college career, the student administration office changed my name to Crabhill. - Margaret Crabill Mead, formerly from Strasburg, Virginia (submitted March 30, 1999)
GRAYBILL -- My family pronounces "GRAY-BILL" just like it looks. However we have heard it said so many different ways; Gray-bell, Gray-hill, Grayble, Gre-beal. Our name has often even been misspelled. Most everyone tried to spell it GrayBill. - Tamara Graybill-Blackhurst (submitted June 4, 2000)
KRAYBILL (Pennsylvania) -- We Kraybills of Pennsylvania (or Pennsylvania origin) generally pronounce the name as "KRAY-ble". But when we anticipate that someone may have difficulty spelling it, we may enunciate it more slowly as "KRAY-bill". As a youngster in school, I occasionally was called "crayfish". - Gene Kraybill, Perth, Australia (submitted March 9, 1996)
KREBILL (Iowa/Minnesota) -- I'm in the Krebill branch of the family, which is a spelling change from Krehbiel, both of which are parts of a family which settled in Lee County, Iowa. My father, Floyd Krebill (6/1/24 - 2/25/95), was always very precise in his pronunciation of the name and I imitate him. I say "KREE bill", with the accent on the first syllable. Many of my cousins in Donnellson, IA, say "Kray bill". The phonetic abuses of my name are many. "Krebble", "Kirbble(!)", "Krayble" are the most common. - Laura Krebill, Mendota Heights, MN (submitted March 21, 1996)
More contributions welcomed!
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