Robi
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "He will augment".
Name Census estimates that about 420 living Americans carry the first name Robi. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 75.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Robi today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Robi births was 1963 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Robi. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Robi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
420
~ 1 in 816,082 Americans
Peak year
1963
21 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2015 SSA rank
#11,805
Tracked since 1955
Census
Robi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 779 people with the first name Robi, which placed it at #14,932 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
#14,932
National first-name rank
People counted
779
779 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Robi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Robi is White at 62.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%) and Hispanic (10.7%). 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 Robi 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 Robi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.3% · 485
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.3% · 96
- Hispanic or Latino10.7% · 83
- Black or African American10.5% · 82
- Two or more races3.7% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Robi
Robi is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 472 total registrations, 116 (24.6%) were male and 356 (75.4%) were female.
Robi as a male name
- Ranked #11,805 in 2015
- 6 male births in 2015
- Peak: 1962 (10 births)
Robi as a female name
- Ranked #19,257 in 2010
- 5 female births in 2010
- Peak: 1963 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Robi on both sides of the split. Of the 783 people counted with this name, 284 were male (36.3%) and 499 were female (63.7%).
Popularity
Robi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Robi from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 141 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Robi 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 Robi 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 Robi
The name Robi is believed to have its origins in the Hindi language, stemming from the Sanskrit word "ravi," which means "sun." This name was prevalent in ancient India, where the reverence for celestial bodies was deeply ingrained in the culture.
During the Vedic period, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE, the name Robi was often associated with the sun god, Surya. It was a common practice to name children after deities or celestial bodies, with the belief that it would bring them blessings and protect them.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Robi can be found in the Mahabharata, a revered Sanskrit epic that dates back to the 8th or 9th century BCE. In this ancient text, there is a character named Robi, who was a wise sage and a teacher to the Pandava princes.
Throughout the centuries, the name Robi has been embraced by various cultures and communities across South Asia. In the 13th century, there was a renowned Sufi mystic and poet named Robi Al-Din, who was born in present-day Afghanistan and was known for his profound spiritual teachings.
Moving forward in time, one of the most notable figures bearing the name Robi was Robi Thakur, a celebrated Bengali writer and social reformer who lived from 1761 to 1815. He is remembered for his contributions to Bengali literature and his efforts to promote education and social progress.
Another prominent individual with the name Robi was Robi Basu, an Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary who actively participated in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule in the early 20th century. He was born in 1898 and played a crucial role in the Chittagong armoury raid of 1930.
In the realm of sports, Robi Sharma, a former Indian cricketer who played domestic cricket for Bengal, made a name for himself in the 1980s and 1990s. He was born in 1962 and is remembered for his impressive batting performances.
While the name Robi has its roots in South Asia, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among families with cultural ties to the region. The name carries with it a rich historical legacy and a connection to the revered celestial bodies that have been at the heart of many ancient civilizations.
People
Robi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Robi 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
Robi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Robi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 420 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Robi 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 816,082 US residents.
Is Robi a common name?
We classify Robi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 472 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Robi most popular?
The single biggest year for Robi was 1963, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Robi is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Robi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 779 people with the name Robi, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,932 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 Robi 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 Robi?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Robi on both sides of the split. Of the 783 people counted with this name, 284 were male (36.3%) and 499 were female (63.7%). 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 Robi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Robi is White at 62.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%) and Hispanic (10.7%). 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 Robi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Robi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.3% (485 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 Robi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Robi a female name?
Yes, 75.4% of people registered as Robi in the SSA data are female. 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 Robi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Robi 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 Robi 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 have the name Robi?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.