(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.
Scottish: habitational name from the lands of Keith in East Lothian. In the 17th century numerous bearers of this name settled in Ulster.
German: nickname from Middle High German kīt ‘sprout’, ‘offspring’.
FOREBEARS George Keith (c. 1638–1716), born at Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, came to NJ in or before 1685. In 1689 he settled in Philadelphia, where he became headmaster of the school now called the William Penn Charter School. He came into sharp collision with the Quaker leaders in PA and formed a separatist party known as the Christian Quakers, popularly known as ‘Keithians’.
