Robbins
Derived from the surname based on an occupational name for a robber or hunter.
Name Census estimates that about 4 living Americans carry the first name Robbins. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Robbins today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Robbins births was 1961 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Robbins. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Robbins is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Robbins' were born before 1968.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Robbins. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
4
~ 1 in 85,688,585 Americans
Peak year
1961
5 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1961 SSA rank
#4,539
Tracked since 1961
Census
Robbins in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 130 people with the first name Robbins, which placed it at #48,722 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#48,722
National first-name rank
People counted
130
130 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Robbins
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Robbins is White at 64.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Robbins described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Robbins at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.6% · 84
- Black or African American19.2% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.5% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 8
- Two or more races1.5% · 2
Popularity
Robbins: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Robbins by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Robbins during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Robbins
The name Robbins is an English surname that has been adopted as a given name in more recent times. Its origins can be traced back to the Old French word "robyn," which means "little Robert." This, in turn, is derived from the Germanic name "Hrodebert," which is composed of the elements "hrod" (meaning "fame" or "renown") and "berht" (meaning "bright" or "famous").
The earliest recorded use of the name Robbins as a given name dates back to the 16th century in England. During this period, it was not uncommon for English families to adopt surnames as first names, particularly those with occupational or descriptive origins.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the given name Robbins was Robbins Paine, an English Puritan minister born in 1599. He served as a pastor in Taunton, Massachusetts, and played a significant role in the early religious life of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Another notable figure was Robbins Battell (1819-1895), an American philanthropist and inventor from Norfolk, Connecticut. He was a pioneer in the field of electrical engineering and held several patents for improvements in telegraph technology.
In the literary world, Robbins Wolcott (1804-1879) was an American poet and editor born in Connecticut. He served as the editor of the New York Literary Messenger and published several volumes of poetry during his lifetime.
Robbins Elliott (1835-1887) was an American lawyer and politician from North Carolina. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1873 to 1875.
Robbins Burrell (1865-1935) was a British artist and illustrator known for his etchings and illustrations in books and magazines during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
While the name Robbins has its roots in English history and culture, it has since spread to other parts of the world and has been adopted by people of various backgrounds and ethnicities.
People
Robbins + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Robbins as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Robbins: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Robbins?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Robbins going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 85,688,585 US residents.
Is Robbins a common name?
We classify Robbins as "Very Rare". It ranks above 6.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Robbins most popular?
The single biggest year for Robbins was 1961, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Robbins is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Robbins in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 130 people with the name Robbins, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,722 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Robbins in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Robbins?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Robbins on both sides of the split. Of the 126 people counted with this name, 86 were male (68.3%) and 40 were female (31.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Robbins?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Robbins is White at 64.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Robbins most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Robbins in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.6% (84 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Robbins in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Robbins a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Robbins in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Robbins still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Robbins in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Robbins can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Robbins?
You can see how many people have the name Robbins on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.