Robert Easton

(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.

Scottish and English: habitational name from any of the numerous places so called. Most are from Old English ēast ‘east’ + tūn ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’; examples in Devon and the Isle of Wight get their names from the Old English phrase beēastan tūne ‘(place) to the east of the settlement’. Another in Devon gets its first element from the genitive case of the Old English personal name Ælfrīc (composed of the elements ælf ‘elf’ + rīc ‘power’) or Aðelrīc (composed of the elements aðel ‘noble’ + rīc ‘power’). One in Essex is from Old English ēg ‘island’+ stān(as) ‘stone(s)’. Finally Easton Neston in Northamptonshire gets its name from Old English Ēadstānestūn ‘settlement of Ēadstān’, a personal name composed of the elements ēad ‘prosperity’, ‘riches’ + stān ‘stone’.