Corbin

Corbin is the transferred use of a surname that originated in England from a nickname. The nickname originated from the Anglo-Norman word “corb” meaning ‘crow, raven’ to signify a man with shiny black hair or for one with a raucous tone of voice. The personal name developed as Corbinian and the surname first appeared in the 11th century as “Corbun”. The Corbin family Coat of Arms in Guernsey (an island in the English Channel) depicts three black ravens with the motto "Deus pascit corvos" (God feeds the ravens). While we often think of ravens in the macabre sense (thanks to Poe or even Hitchcock), this is far from the truth. The raven is actually a mysterious, curious, talkative, solo-driven, care-less-attitude kind of bird. They are also intelligent and have unique speaking abilities making them the ultimate oracle. We hear “cras! cras!” from the raven, which in Latin actually means ‘tomorrow’ and suggests their ability to foretell the future and reveal omens and signs. In Celtic mythology, the raven was associated with wisdom and knowledge. In Norse legend, the raven is connected to their main god Odin who would send the birds across the land to spy and return revealing vital information to him. There are also a couple of interesting stories on why the raven’s feathers are black. In the Greco-Roman tradition, Apollo punished the raven for talking too much and exposing too many secrets, so he turned his bright white feathers black. In another, the “wise” owl replaced Athena’s raven as the symbolism for wisdom again because of the raven’s chatter-box tendencies. In Native American mythology, the raven was considered a friend to the people. Her black feathers were considered magical and only to be feared if misused. They were considered tricksters and charmers, ingenious and changeable. They guarded over ceremonial rituals and healing circles. The Native American Indians also saw the raven as a bringer of light, while psychologist Carl Jung felt they symbolized the darker side of our psyche. Therefore, the raven (or Corbin) has a nice yin-yang quality about him. As a given name, Corbin is mainly a new coinage and distinct to the United States.