Robey
English surname transferred to forename use, derived from Old French meaning "strong".
Name Census estimates that about 69 living Americans carry the first name Robey. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Robey today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Robey births was 1929 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Robey. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Robey. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
69
~ 1 in 4,967,454 Americans
Peak year
1929
12 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1982 SSA rank
#6,240
Tracked since 1912
Census
Robey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 211 people with the first name Robey, which placed it at #37,164 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
#37,164
National first-name rank
People counted
211
211 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Robey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Robey is White at 68.7%. The next largest groups are Black (11.4%) and Hispanic (11.4%). 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 Robey 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 Robey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.7% · 145
- Black or African American11.4% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino11.4% · 24
- Two or more races4.3% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 3
Popularity
Robey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Robey from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 44 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Robey 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 Robey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Robey
The name Robey is believed to have its origins in the Old English language, derived from the word "rob," meaning "bright" or "shining." This name likely emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, between the 5th and 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Robey can be found in the Domesday Book, a historical record commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Rodbertus," which was a common variant spelling at the time.
In ancient texts, the name Robey is often associated with qualities such as strength, bravery, and nobility. It is thought to have been a popular name among the Anglo-Saxon warriors and nobility, as it conveyed a sense of valor and radiance.
One notable figure in history who bore the name Robey was Sir Robey de Beauchamp, a 13th-century English knight who fought in the Crusades. He was born around 1220 and died in 1292.
Another famous bearer of the name was Robey Burnett, an English composer and organist who lived from 1592 to 1663. He is best known for his contributions to church music during the Renaissance period.
In the 18th century, Robey Lascelles (1713-1795) was a prominent British politician and member of the House of Commons, representing the constituency of Northallerton.
Moving forward, Robey Leibbrandt (1854-1914) was a South African politician and lawyer who played a significant role in the country's early legal system and served as the Attorney-General of the Orange Free State.
Lastly, Robey Wilton (1881-1920) was an English actor and comedian who rose to fame during the early 20th century for his performances in music halls and vaudeville shows.
While the name Robey may have fallen out of widespread use in modern times, its historical significance and ties to Anglo-Saxon culture and notable figures throughout history have left an enduring legacy.
People
Robey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Robey 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
Robey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Robey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 69 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Robey 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 4,967,454 US residents.
Is Robey a common name?
We classify Robey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 139 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Robey most popular?
The single biggest year for Robey was 1929, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Robey is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Robey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 211 people with the name Robey, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,164 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 Robey 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 Robey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Robey leans strongly male. 179 people counted with this name were male (85.6%), compared with 30 female bearers (14.4%). 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 Robey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Robey is White at 68.7%. The next largest groups are Black (11.4%) and Hispanic (11.4%). 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 Robey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Robey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.7% (145 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 Robey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Robey a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Robey 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 Robey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Robey 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 Robey 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 Americans are named Robey?
See how many Americans are named Robey on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.