(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 (Shropshire): from the Welsh personal name Einws, a diminutive of Einion (of uncertain origin, popularly associated with einion ‘anvil’).
English: patronymic from the medieval personal name Hain 2.
English: habitational name from Haynes in Bedfordshire. This name first appears in Domesday Book as Hagenes, which Mills derives from the plural of Old English hægen, hagen ‘enclosure’.
Irish: variant of Hines.
FOREBEARS The first governor of CT colony was John Haynes (?1594–1653). Earlier he had been governor of MA. He had emigrated from Essex, England, where his father was lord of the manor of Copford Hall near Colchester.
