(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 and Irish: variant of Summer.
German and Danish: from Middle German sumer, Danish, Norwegian sommer ‘summer’, a nickname for someone of a warm disposition, or for someone associated with the season in some other way or from living in a sunny place, in some instances a metonymic occupational name for a basketweaver or a drummer, from Middle High German sum(b)er, sum(m)er ‘basket’, ‘basketry’, ‘drum’.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Sommer ‘summer’. Like the other seasonal names, this was also one of the group of names that were bestowed on Jews more or less at random by government officials in 18th- and 19thcentury central Europe.
