(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 and French: metonymic occupational name for a preparer and seller of cured pork, from Middle English, Old French bacun, bacon ‘bacon’ (a word of Germanic origin, akin to Back 1).
English and French: from the Germanic personal name Bac(c)o, Bahho, from the root bag- ‘to fight’. The name was relatively common among the Normans in the form Bacus, of which the oblique case was Bacon.
FOREBEARS An immigrant from Normandy, France, called Bacon or Bascon was documented in Quebec city in 1647.A Michael Bacon from England arrived in Dedham, MA, in 1640. Nathaniel Bacon (1647–76) from Friston Hall, Suffolk, emigrated to VA and settled at Curl's Neck on the James river. Another Nathanial Bacon, from Stratton, Cornwall, arrived at Barnstaple, MA, in 1639.
