(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: topographic name for someone who lived among rushes, from Middle English rush (a collective singular, Old English rysc), or perhaps an occupational name for someone who wove mats, baskets, and other articles out of rushes.
Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Ruis ‘descendant of Ros’, a personal name perhaps derived from ros ‘wood’. In Connacht it has also been used as a translation of Ó Luachra (see Loughrey).
Irish: Anglicized form (translation) of Gaelic Ó Fuada, ‘descendant of Fuada’ a personal name meaning ‘hasty’, ‘rushing’ (see Foody).
Altered spelling of German Rüsch or Rusch (see Rusch) or Rosch.
FOREBEARS Benjamin Rush (1745–1813), a physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in the PA farming community of Byberry. He was descended from John Rush, a yeoman from Oxfordshire, England, who came to Byberry in 1683.
