To any German person.

I took to wondering if my last name, Grob, meant anything. I found out that in German it means, “coarse,” but here are eight possible definitions for coarse:

  1. composed of relatively large parts or particles: The beach had rough, coarse sand.
  2. lacking in fineness or delicacy of texture, structure, etc.: The stiff, coarse fabric irritated her skin.
  3. harsh; grating.
  4. lacking delicacy, taste, or refinement; unpolished: He had coarse manners but an absolutely first-rate mind.
  5. of inferior or faulty quality; common; base.
  6. vulgar; obscene; crude: His coarse language angered us.
  7. (of metals) unrefined.
  8. (of a metal file) having the maximum commercial grade of coarseness.

Could someone tell me which one most nearly describes the German word, Grob?

Definitely meanings 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 all equally (but some are literal and some metaphorical, of course). It is cognate with the English “gruff”, by the way.

It’s giving me schroff for gruff for some reason, but gruff still fits because of my growling sort of voice.

My voice is weird, it makes a woman think, “sexy time,” and makes guys think I am mad at them for something.

Thank you for the information, it would have bothered me all night had I not gotten the answer!

Bingo. I’ll second Saully here.

You can buy “grob” salt, which is freakin’ gigantic salt particles . . . but a person could also be called “grob” in a less-than-flattering way.

I asked my mum and she said as a surname it doesn´t have any specific connotation. But just as a writer might choose the name Grim to make some sort of point for a character, so to could Grob make a point, most probably as you said in the sense of coarse or rough.

Grob sounds like a good easy name to spell and say. I have seen and heard some German names I can’t even begin to figure out how to pronounce it or even be able to after hearing it. Ours is a simple German name thankfully. Now Polish or Italian names, If I have to try certain names, I just let them know I am going to refer to them as Smith. :laughing: