Robert is an
ancient Germanic French surname. It is derived from the
Proto-Germanic elements *Hrōþi- ("fame, glory, honour") and *berhta- ("bright, shining"). Despite being used as a surname, it is most commonly used as a given name (see
Robert).
Geographical distribution
As of 2014, 27.0% of all known bearers of the surname ''Robert'' were residents of France (frequency 1:472), 22.8% of Tanzania (1:434), 10.6% of Nigeria (1:3,177), 6.0% of the United States (1:11,438), 3.7% of Canada (1:1,926), 2.9% of Papua New Guinea (1:534), 2.5% of Malawi (1:1,335), 2.2% of Kenya (1:3,929), 2.1% of Rwanda (1:1,018), 1.9% of Togo (1:721), 1.3% Haiti (1:1,631), 1.2% of Belgium (1:1,822), 1.2% of Liberia (1:722), 1.1% of Sudan (1:6,756) and 1.1% of South Africa (1:9,780).
In France, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:472) in the following regions:
[Robert surname distribution](_blank)
/ref>
* 1. Réunion (1:56)
* 2. Collectivity of Saint Martin (1:119)
* 3. Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (french: link=no, Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon ), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in t ...
(1:337)
* 4. Pays de la Loire (1:369)
* 5. Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
(1:378)
* 6. Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (1:414)
* 7. Centre-Val de Loire (1:420)
* 8. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (1:432)
* 9. Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by ...
(1:471)
People with the surname
*Alain Robert
Alain Robert (born as Robert Alain Philippe on 7 August 1962) is a French rock climber and urban climber. Known as "the French Spider-Man" (after the comic character Spider-Man) or "the Human Spider", Robert is famous for his free solo climbi ...
, French rock and urban climber
*Hubert Robert
Hubert Robert (22 May 1733 – 15 April 1808) was a French painter in the school of Romanticism, noted especially for his landscape paintings and capricci, or semi-fictitious picturesque depictions of ruins in Italy and of France.Jean de Cayeux. ...
, French painter
* Jeanne Robert (1914–2017), French Resistance member
* Laurent Robert, French footballer
* Louise Robert (born 1941), Canadian painter
* Léo-Paul Robert, Swiss painter
* Louis-Léopold Robert, Swiss painter
* Luis Robert, Cuban baseball outfielder for the Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
* Mireille Robert (born 1963), French politician
* Rene Robert, star National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
forward for the Buffalo Sabres
*Robert brothers
Les Frères Robert were two French brothers. Anne-Jean Robert (1758–1820) and Nicolas-Louis Robert (1760–1820) were the engineers who built the world's first hydrogen balloon for professor Jacques Charles, which flew from central Paris o ...
, Anne-Jean and Nicolas-Louis, French balloonists circa 1783–4, the engineers who built the world's first hydrogen balloon and went on to build the world's first manned hydrogen balloon
See also
* Roberts (surname)
Surnames from given names
References
{{Reflist
French-language surnames
Germanic-language surnames