Robert
Masculine · “Bright fame”
Robert is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 4,849,730 boys against 20,119 girls since 1880. See Robert as a girl name
Robert arrived in England with the Normans, who carried it over from a Frankish name built out of the words for fame and brightness. It took hold quickly, ran through three medieval kings of Scots — Robert the Bruce among them — and has been shortened to Rob and Bob for so many centuries that the nicknames have their own history. Two syllables, a solid first beat, and no ambiguity about how to spell it in any English-speaking country.
How old is the name Robert?
Robert was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Robert alive today was born around 1951, making them about 74 years old. About 2,678,000 people named Robert are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Robert most popular?
Robert peaked in 1924, reaching #1 nationally. Today it ranks #92, 91 places below that high. See the whole 1924 chart.
Where it comes from
From Hrodebert to Robert
The story of Robert
The name began as Old High German Hrodebert, one of a large family of Frankish names built on hrod, 'fame'. Norman French smoothed it to Robert, and the Conquest brought it to England, where it displaced the native Old English Hreodbeorht almost entirely. From there it spread north into Scotland, where it was borne by kings, and later traveled with Scottish and English emigrants across the Atlantic. It has been in continuous use in English for roughly a thousand years, which very few given names can claim.
Meaning
Bright fame
From the Germanic elements hrod, 'fame', and beraht, 'bright'.
Cultural footprint
Robert De Niro (b. 1943) — Two-time Oscar winner (The Godfather Part II, Raging Bull)
Robert Frost (b. 1874) — "The Road Not Taken" poet with four Pulitzers
Robert Louis Stevenson (b. 1850) — Wrote Treasure Island
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Hrodebert
- Hrodberht
- RobertOld French
- Robert
- Roberto
Related forms: Roberto · Roberto · Ruprecht · Róbert · Roberto · Robert
Pronouncing Robert
ROB-ert
Stress on the first syllable in English. French speakers say roh-BEHR with a silent final t, and Italian and Spanish Roberto shifts the stress to the middle.
Nicknames for Robert
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 195186,353 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1reached in 1924
- Change vs 2022
- −7.6%3,772 in 2025, from 4,082
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Robert in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Roberto in Italian — same name
- Roberto in Spanish — same name
- Ruprecht in German — related form
- Róbert in Hungarian — spelling variant
- Roberto in Portuguese — same name
- Robert in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida. International figures from National Records of Scotland. Sources
Roberts among us
people named Robert are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 453 born in 2025 was named Robert
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Robert has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Robert is headed
Robert should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Robert beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Robert in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A spelling everyone already knows: no need to repeat it on the phone, in any English-speaking country.
- An unbroken record in English of about a thousand years, through every change of naming fashion since the Norman Conquest.
- An unusually deep bench of short forms — Rob, Bob, Robbie, Bobby, Bert — so the everyday name can be chosen later.
- Travels intact or near-intact into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Hungarian.
- Still charting in Scotland, where the name has centuries of local history behind it.
- Most Roberts alive in the US are grandparents or great-grandparents, so the name reads as an older man's name to many people — though that is exactly what has kept it fresh for a new generation.
- Bob and Bobby carry a distinctly mid-century sound, and you may find relatives reaching for them whether or not you intended a nickname.
- Famous bearers span poets, composers and scientists but also a long-ruling head of state whose record is heavily criticized; with a name this widely used, no single association dominates.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Robert
Masculine · #92 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Roberts are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,678,000 people named Robert are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Robert in 2025?
- Robert ranks #92 among US boy names in 2025, with 3,772 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Robert?
- About 1 in every 453 US boys born in 2025 was named Robert — 3,772 in all.
- Will my child share the name Robert with classmates?
- Robert will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Robert
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kai#93 · Leonardo#91 · Emiliano#94 · Micah#90 · Jonathan#89 · Jose#95 · Christian#96 · Jeremiah#88
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Robert? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Robert and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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