ninan.org

Robert

Boys' name · Mid-century perennial

Living in the US
~2,689,900 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#92 among boys
Births in 2025
3,777 4,869,849 since 1880
Typical age
61 years, median

Robert popularity over time

Robert rank by birth year, 1880–2025Robert ranked #10 in 1880 and #92 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #1, in 1924.#1#10#100#92best #1 in 192418901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

Robert was used most in 1947, when 91,892 babies were given the name. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. It has held a top-100 place in 146 separate years.

In 2025 it ranked #92 with 3,777 births. Compared with 2015, births are down 39%.

Babies named Robert per yearPeaks at 91,892 births in 1947.91,892 in 1947018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Robert?

An estimated 2,689,900 living Americans are called Robert. SSA has recorded 4,869,849 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Robert?

The typical living Robert is 61 years old. The 1950s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Robert a mid-century perennial name.

Your Robert

Ages of living people named RobertHalf of living Roberts are older than 61 and half younger.median 61020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Robert is most common

Relative to births, Alaska carries 2.6× the national share of Roberts. District of Columbia, Vermont and Delaware follow.

Where Robert is used more than average5 states use the name Robert more than the national average.Alaska: 2.6× the national rateAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: 2.2× the national rateVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: 2.1× the national rateWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: 2.2× the national rateDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 2.4× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Robert is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Alaska 158 2.6×
District of Columbia 205 2.4×
Vermont 71 2.2×
Delaware 160 2.2×
Wyoming 64 2.1×

Robert in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Robert ranked #164 in 2025 on 310 births. That is 29% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Robert comes from

From Anglo-Norman Robert, from the Old Frankish cognate of Old High German Hrodperht (normalised form: Ruodberht), from Proto-West Germanic *Hrōþiberht, from Proto-Germanic *Hrōþiberhtaz. Doublet of Rupert.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Robert

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Robert Louis Stevenson Scottish novelist and poet 1850–1894 153
Robert Mugabe 2nd President of Zimbabwe from 1987 to 2017 1924–2019 139
Robert De Niro American actor 1943 138
Robert Schumann German composer, pianist and critic 1810–1856 130
Robert Frost American poet 1874–1963 127
Robert Koch German physician, bacteriologist 1843–1910 125
Robert Burns Scottish poet and lyricist 1759–1796 123
Robert Boyle Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor 1627–1691 114
Photo credits (7)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 6,565 in 1911 to 12,900 in 1912 — 2.0 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Robert

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Same feel, less common

The same matches, limited to names given at most half as often as Robert was in 2025.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/robert.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).