(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 (Hébert) and Dutch: assimilated form of Herbert.
German: variant of Heber 1.
Dutch: from the personal name Egbert.
FOREBEARS Louis Hébert (son of Nicolas, apothecary to the Queen, and grocer, and his wife Jacqueline Pajot) was in Acadia in 1606–1607 and again in 1611–1613; he arrived in Quebec city in 1617, and was the father of the first French child born in Quebec. The following secondary surnames are recorded: Lecomte, from Normandy, documented in Quebec city in 1655; Jolicoeur, documented in Montreal in 1653; Laverdure, from Paris, documented in Trois Rivières in 1666; Deslauriers, recorded in 1679; Larose, from Normandy, documented in Voucherville in 1679; and Minfret or Lesperance, from Normandy, recorded in 1701. The LA Hébert families trace their descent from Acadian descendants of Albert and Étienne Hébert who left their native village of La-Haye-Descartes, Touraine, circa 1640.
