(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: regional name denoting someone from Burgundy (Old French Bourgogne), a region of eastern France having Dijon as its center. The area was invaded by the Burgundii, a Germanic tribe from whom it takes its name, in about ad 480. The duchy of Burgundy, created in 877 by Charles II, King of the Western Franks, was extremely powerful in the later Middle Ages, especially under Philip the Bold (1342–1404; duke from 1363).
FOREBEARS A bearer of the surname from the Poitou region of France is recorded in Quebec city in 1667, with the secondary surname Bourguignon.