This most interesting and unusual surname, with variant forms Raubheim, Raubenheim, Raubenheimers etc., recorded in German Church Registers from the early 17th Century has as its component elements the old High German "rauben", to rob, steal or plunder, plus the Old High German "heim", a homestead or settlement. The surname therefore originated either as a nickname for someone who had breached the fortifications of a settlement, or as a habitational name from residence at the homestead or settlement of one called "Raub(er)". The final -er, when attached to a habitational name, means "dweller at (that place)". On April 19th 1664 Sebastian Raubenheimer and Anna Maria Petargi were married in Wolfstein Stadt, Pfalz, Bayern, (Bavaria), and on March 27th 1665 the marriage of Hans Barthol Raubenheimer and Anna Catharian Goeller took place in Sobernheim, Rheinland. The christening of their son, Hans Wendel Raubenheimer, was also recorded in Sobernheim, on December 8th 1667. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hans Adam Raubenheimers, (marriage to Margret Germanns), which was dated July 29th 1625, Meisenheim, Rheinland, Germany, during the reign of Emperor Ferdinand 11, known as "The Habsburg Emperor", 1619 - 1637. 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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