Robert

Where Robert comes from

From Anglo-Norman Robert, from the Old Frankish cognate of Old High German Hrodperht (normalised form: Ruodberht), from Proto-West Germanic *Hrōþiberht, from Proto-Germanic *Hrōþiberhtaz (literally “shining glory”). Doublet of Rupert.
— Wiktionary's entry for Robert
  • Germanic
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1850
    Robert Louis Stevenson born
    Scottish novelist and poet
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #10 among boys — 2,415 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1924
    Robert Mugabe born
    2nd President of Zimbabwe from 1987 to 2017
  4. 1953
    Peak, #1
    86,243 babies named Robert — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1972
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #6.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from the Germanic languages.
Namesakes
  • Robert Louis Stevenson · Scottish novelist and poet, 1850–1894
  • Robert Mugabe · 2nd President of Zimbabwe from 1987 to 2017, 1924–2019
  • Robert De Niro · American actor, born 1943
  • Robert Schumann · German composer, pianist and critic, 1810–1856
  • Robert Frost · American poet, 1874–1963

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.