The story
Named in 1987 by Donald R. Peacor, Pete J. Dunn, S. C. Su and J. Innes in honour of Paul Hubert Ribbe (1935-2017), professor of mineralogy at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA. Ribbe + -ite
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.