(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, French, and Catalan: from a diminutive of brun ‘brown’ (see Brown, Brun).
German: from a personal name (Brunhard) composed with Old High German, Old Saxon brūm ‘brown’. But this is also a Waldensian name in Germany, in which case it is of French origin, see 1.
FOREBEARS A Brunet from the Charente Maritime region of France is documented in Montreal in 1663, with the secondary surname Belhumeur. Another, from the Perche region, is documented in Quebec city in 1667, with the secondary surname Létang. Other secondary surnames recorded are Bourbonnais, La Sablonnière, and Saint-André. A Calvinist from La Rochelle, with the secondary surname Bonvouloir, is documented in Quebec city in 1698.
