(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.
French and English: from the French medieval personal name Blancard, Blanchard, from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements blank ‘white’, ‘shining’ + hard ‘strong’, ‘brave’.
FOREBEARS A bearer of this name from the Saintonge region of France appears in the records of Quebec city in 1665; another, from Brittany, was documented in Quebec city in 1665, with the secondary name Belleville.Huguenots named Blanchard came to NY from La Rochelle, while the Blanchards of southern LA claim descent from Acadian refugees after the 1755 expulsion. They in turn are reputed to descend from a Guillaume Blanchard, from the Poitou region of France, who is said to have arrived in Acadia before 1640.
