Robin
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Meaning
familiar short form of Robert, "bright fame"
The story
Robin was a person’s name before it was an English word for a bird. It served as a familiar form of Robert in medieval English, with the formation also known in Old French. Robert’s Germanic ancestor, Hrodebert, joins elements for “fame” and “bright,” usually summarized as “bright fame.” Robin now stands independently and is used for women as well as men.
Robin Hood was already familiar enough for a joke in the fourteenth-century poem Piers Plowman: the character Sloth knows rhymes about the outlaw better than he knows his prayers. That is evidence of stories in circulation, not proof of a particular historical Robin Hood. The hero has changed in the retelling. Early versions fight and rob, and help people selectively; the consistently noble outlaw who takes from the rich to give to the poor developed over time. In some ballads, Robin meets a stranger, fights him, fails to win and then invites him into the band. The legend had room for a hero who could be bested. Sherwood was not the only forest in the stories: Barnsdale appears more often in texts from before 1500.
The bird acquired the human name in the expression Robin Redbreast, recorded from the fifteenth century; “robin” later became the shortened bird word. English-speaking explorers and colonists carried that familiar label abroad and applied it to a North American thrush with an orange-red breast, a usage documented by 1703. American and European robins are different species. Their common name records a perceived resemblance, rather than the same bird crossing the Atlantic. The bird can now be a reference when people choose Robin, but Robert supplies the older name relationship.
The formal names behind Robin
Robin is an established short form of this name.
Robert · Germanic origin · bright fame
Robin across languages
One shared root links 8 names across 3 languages.
Shared root: from Germanic Hrodebert, hrod "fame" + beraht "bright"
The constellation
More branches
How popular is Robin around the world?
In the United States, 3,870 babies were named Robin between 2020 and 2025. In France, about 1,005 boys named Robin were born in 2025, the 57th most common name among boys that year.
Robin is on the official records of the United States, France, Scotland, England and Wales, Austria, Ireland, Norway, Canada, New Zealand, South Australia, Mexico City, Chile, Spain, Poland and Brazil.
United States
1 in 5,600
In the United States, 3,870 babies were named Robin between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Robin peaked in the 1960s. In 2025 Robin went to 400 girls and 382 boys in the US Social Security record, one of the few names given to girls and boys in nearly equal numbers.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
France
1 in 640
In France, about 1,005 boys named Robin were born in 2025, the 57th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Scotland
1 in 750
In Scotland, 48 boys named Robin were registered in 2024, the 110th most common name among boys that year.
In Scotland, 13 girls named Robin were registered in 2024, the 275th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 870
In England and Wales, 485 boys named Robin were born in 2025, the 109th most common name among boys that year.
In England and Wales, 186 girls named Robin were born in 2025, the 250th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Austria
1 in 880
In Austria, 84 boys named Robin were born in 2025, the 89th most common name among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Ireland
1 in 1,100
In Ireland, 28 boys named Robin were born in 2025, the 176th most common name among boys that year.
In Ireland, 22 girls named Robin were born in 2025, the 196th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Norway
1 in 1,300register 2026
In Norway, 22 boys were given the name Robin in 2025.
share of the boys on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
Canada
1 in 1,500
In Canada, 198 boys named Robin were born in 2024, the 170th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New Zealand
1 in 4,400
In New Zealand, 13 boys named Robin were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Robin in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Mexico City City
1 in 29,000
In Mexico City, there were 4 registrations of Robin in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Chile
1 in 45,000
In Chile, 4 boys were registered as Robin in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Spain
1 in 55,000
In Spain, 724 residents are named Robin, ranked 1,768th among men, with a mean age of 30.1 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Poland
1 in 62,000
In Poland, 4 boys named Robin were born in 2025, the 490th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Brazil
1 in 500,000
At the 2022 census, 379 people in Brazil were named Robin, ranked 16,192nd, with a median age of 36.
Among people named Robin living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Argentina
last on record 2023
Robin is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Montevideo City
last on record 2008
Robin is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Robin is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.
When you meet Robin
Most people given the name Robin in the United States were born between 1950 and 1979. The Robin you meet today is most often in her 50s or 60s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Robin deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Robin truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Robin fits with your family’s names and surname.
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