(male) One of the many French names of Germanic origin that were introduced into Britain by the Normans; it has since remained in continuous use. It is derived from the nearly synonymous elements hrōd ‘fame’ + berht ‘bright, famous’, and had a native Old English predecessor of similar form (Hreodbeorht), which was supplanted by the Norman name. Two dukes of Normandy in the 11th century bore the name: the father of William the Conqueror (sometimes identified with the legendary Robert the Devil), and his eldest son. It was borne also by three kings of Scotland, notably Robert the Bruce (1274–1329), who freed Scotland from English domination. The altered short form Bob is very common, but Hob and Dob, which were common in the Middle Ages and gave rise to surnames, are extinct. See also Rupert.
Short forms: Bob, Rob.
Pet forms: Bobby, Robbie, Robin.
Cognates: Irish: Roibéard. Scottish Gaelic: Raibeart. German: Robert, Rupprecht. Dutch: Robrecht, Rob(b)ert. Scandinavian: Robert. French: Robert. Spanish, Portuguese, Italian: Roberto. Czech: Robert. Finnish: Roopertti. Hungarian: Róbert. Latvian: Roberts.
1. French, English, and German: from the medieval personal name Paris, which is actually an Old French variant of Patrice (see Patrick), but which became associated with the name of the Trojan prince Paris in Homer's Iliad.
2. French, English, and German: habitational name from the French city of Paris or a nickname denoting someone who had Parisian connections, for example through trade.
3. Catalan (París): from a reduced form of the personal name Aparici, which was given to children born on the Feast of the Epiphany, 6th January (see Aparicio).
4. Hungarian (Páris): from the personal name Páris or Párizs.
FOREBEARS The first bearer of the surname Paris documented in North America was in fact from Paris; he is recorded in 1668 in Quebec City. Another, from the Gascon region of France, was at Chambly, Quebec, in 1671, with the secondary surname Champagne. Others came from Normandy, France.
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![[Image: Color-coded map of the United States showing name distribution by state.]](/map/Robert.Paris.US.gif)
