(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.
English: metonymic occupational name for a carter or cartwright, from Middle English wain ‘cart’, ‘wagon’ (Old English wægen). Occasionally it may have been a habitational name for someone who lived at a house distinguished with this sign, probably from the constellation of the Plow, known in the Middle Ages as Charles's Wain, the reference being to Charlemagne.
FOREBEARS Anthony Wayne and his son Isaac, of English ancestry, came from Ireland to Chester Co., PA, in about 1724. Gen. Anthony Wayne (1745–96), born in Waynesboro, PA, was a prominent military officer in the American Revolution and the Indian war of 1794–95.
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