This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Robert,' from the nick. Rob or Robbie; compare the other nick. Hob, and Hobson. v. Robison.

Ricardus Robson, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1565. Baptised — Thomas, s. Richard Robson: St. James, Clerkenwell.

1598. John Robson, Westmorland: Register of the University of Oxford.

1625. Francis Robson and Wilseam (sic) Harbert: Marriage Lic. (London).

(Teutonic) 1 FAME-BRlGHT [French Robert, O. Teutonic Hruodber(a)ht, Ruodperht, etc. (Mod.H. Ger. Ruprecht,etc.), Hróðberht, Hróðbiart,etc. —O.H.Ger. h)ruod- = Old Saxon*hróð- = Old English hróð- (hréð) = Old Norse hróð-r, fame, victory + O.H.Ger. beraht = Old Saxon berht = Old English be(o)rht = Gothic bairht-s = Old Norse biart-r, bright, glorious] Rodbert and Rodbriht are usual forms in the A.-Saxon Chronicle, 11th and 12th cent. Fiz-Robert occurs in the copies of the Roll of Battle Abbey. Robertus is the form in Domesday-Book. Robert Wace invariably has Robert— Li quens Robert de Moretoing (The count Robert of Mortain).—Roman de Rou, ii. 183, etc. Sire Roberd le fiz Rei [variantly Roy] is name ssal be.—Rob. Glouc. Chron., 8895. Robert [variantly Roberd] the robbere.— Piers Plowman, v. 469 (3411).

Robert the Bruys erle off Carryk.—Barbour, The Bruce, i. 67.

Robert is still a common French surname; it occurs also with the diminutive suffixes -et, -in, -on, etc.

Rupert is the same name.

(occasionally) 2 Counsel-Bright [from O.L.Ger. Rádberht-rád (Old English rǽd), counsel + berht, bright, glorious]

ROBERTS: 'son of Robert,' which see. John Roberts (1768-1803), American painter, mathematician, and scientist, was born in Scotland.

ROBERT, Robbert: An Old English personal name, Robert, meaning 'bright fame' (hroð + berht). Alexander Robert, a Scotsman, arrested as a spy. to be liberated, 1402 (Bain, IV, 607) Horrowed into Gaelic as Raebert, which see.

See under ROBESON. The English Robsons formed one of the four principal clans of North Tyne in the sixteenth century. In Bullein's Dialogue they are described as "a wight riding sirname, good honest men and true, saving a little shifting for their living." The northern Robsons are said to be descended (1) from Robert, second son of George Gunn the Crowner, or (2) from John Gunn Robson (1616).

'son of Dob or Dobb,' a pet diminutive of Robert. John Dobsoun was tenant of the abbot of Kelso in 1567 (Kelso, p. 520), and John Dobsone is recorded in Selkirk in 1675 (RRM., III, p. 86).

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. Ap-Robert (Welsh), equivalent to English Robertson; compare Pritchard, Price, &c.

1540. Buried — Thomas Uprobarte, prentice with Toson: St. Antholin (London).

Lloyd ap-Robert. Calendar of Pleadings, temp. Elizabeth I.

Ellice ap-Robert. Calendar of Proceedings in Chancery, temp. Elizabeth I.

'Item, geven to oon Davyd ap-Robert, xvi.' 1544; Privy Purse Exp., Princess Mary.

1792. Married — Joseph Probert and Sarah Owen: St. George, Hanover Square.

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Robert,' from nick. Dob. As will be seen (v. Hobb), Robert gave title to ghosts and haunting spirits. Hence the familiar hobs and dobbies. A ghost is a dobby in Furness. 'Dobby.

John Dobynette, 1463: Mun. Acad. Oxon.

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Robert.' The influence of this name was enormous, as our directories prove. Its chief nicks, were Hob and Dob, whence with dims. Hobkin, Hopkin, Dobinson, &c., which see. But the most famous diminutive was Robin. Hence our Robinsons, &c. (v. Robin).

Adam fil. Roberti, Oxfordshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Agatha fil. Roberti, Oxfordshire , ibid.

Thomas fil. Roberti, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

It is useless giving other Illustrations. It ran a fine race with Richard and Roger, one giving us the nicks. Hick and Dick, the other Hodge and Dodge, all of which see.

(Welsh, Scottish, English) The son of Robert (fame, bright).

See Robert. The family of Roberts of Glassenbury, co. Kent, extinct baronets, according to a genealogy in Harl. MSS., are descended from a William Rookherst, a Scotchman, who settled in Kent, in the third year of Henry I., and purchased lands at Goudhurst, which he called after his own name. This name he afterwards changed to Roobertes, which finally became Roberts. The tradition of descent from a Scotchman may be true or not, but that a North Briton gave name to a place in Kent called Rookherst, is a pure figment. The termination herst, or hurst, is scarcely, if at all, known in Scotland, while the Weald of Kent, where the Robertses first appear, abounds with it. The truth, doubtless, is, that the locality called from Saxon times Rookherst, gave the name De Rookherst to its early possessors, and that one of them in later times-the son of a Robert-dropped his local surname, and assumed a patronymical one.

A Teutonic personal name of great antiquity, which was introduced into England about the time of the Conquest. As Rotbertus, it is frequently found in Domesday. Besides having itself become a surname, it has given rise to a great many others, as-Roberts, Robarts, Robertson, Robins, Robbins, Robinson, Robbie, Robison, Robeson, Robb, Robson, Roby. It has also taken the form of Fitz-Robert, and, in Wales, those of Ap-Robert and Ap-Robyn, now contracted to Probert and Probyn. Its nicknames are Dobb and Hobb, from the former of which we get Dobbs, Dobby, Dobbie, Dobson, Dabson, Dobbin, Dobbins, Dobinson; and from the latter, Hobbs, Hobbes, Hobson, Hobbins, Hobkins, Hopkins, Hopkinson, and Hoby.

AP ROBERT: (Welsh). The son of Robert. Hence Probert. The name sometimes took the form of Robin, and hence Ap Robyn, Probyn.

(Saxon.) From Bod, counsel, and bert or bericht, bright or famous—famous in counsel.

Roberts. —A name rare or absent in the northern counties, where it is partially represented by that of Robertson, of Northumberland, a name very numerous over the most part of Scotland. The great home of Roberts is in North Wales, and next in order come South Wales, Shropshire, Monmouthshire, and Cornwall. It is scattered over the rest of England, but is least common in the eastern counties. The Proberts (Ap - Robert) increase its frequency in Monmouthshire and Herefordshire, and, to a less extent, in South Wales.

Dobbs was the name of a Gloucester citizen in 1642, whose corn was seized by the Roundheads. Washbourne's "Bibliotheca Gioucestrcnsis.".

Northumberland is the great home of the Robsons, particularly the district of North Tyne, where they have been established since the 12th or 13th century (C.). They formed one of the four principal clans of North Tyne in the 16th century, and were the hereditary foes of the Armstrongs of Liddesdale on the Scottish side of the border (C.). Though scattered over Northumberland, the Robsons are still numerous in North Tyne; and in the parish of Falstone, where as "lairds" they have held property for some 400 years, they are yet well represented. The name has obtained but little hold across the border, but it has extended southward in force into the county of Durham; it reaches Yorkshire in diminished numbers, and dies out in Lincolnshire.