Robin
Meaning
pet form of Robert, "bright fame"
The story
Robin began in medieval England as a pet form of Robert, the Germanic name meaning bright fame, and it was fixed in the language forever by Robin Hood, the outlaw of Sherwood whose ballads have been sung since the fourteenth century. The bird is named for the name, not the other way around: English settlers, homesick for the robin redbreast of home, gave the title to the American thrush they found here. In the United States the name changed teams, catching on for daughters through the 1940s and 1950s and peaking in the 1960s, when Robin sat solidly among the popular girls' names of its era. It drifted down gently afterward, yet the newest stretch of the chart shows a small upturn, a hint that its bird-name freshness is being noticed again. Cheerful, brisk, and impossible to mishear, Robin has earned its long run.
The formal names behind Robin
Robin is an established short form of this name.
Robert · Germanic origin · bright fame
Robin around the world
One shared root links 8 names across 3 languages.
Shared root: from Germanic Hrodebert, hrod "fame" + beraht "bright"
The constellation
More branches
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Robin peaked in the 1960s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
379 people · the #16,192 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 500,000 · median age 36
Among people named Robin living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
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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