Robinson
A masculine name derived from the surname Robinson meaning "son of Robin".
Name Census estimates that about 2,450 living Americans carry the first name Robinson. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Robinson today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Robinson births was 2014 (64 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Robinson. 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 Robinson with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 139,900 Americans
Peak year
2014
64 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,572
Tracked since 1900
Census
Robinson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,773 people with the first name Robinson, which placed it at #4,060 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
#4,060
National first-name rank
People counted
4.8K
4,773 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
52.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Robinson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Robinson is Hispanic at 52.2%. The next largest groups are White (19.1%) and Black (17.4%). 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 Robinson 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 Robinson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino52.2% · 2,492
- White19.1% · 911
- Black or African American17.4% · 830
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.5% · 404
- Two or more races1.9% · 90
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 46
Popularity
Robinson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Robinson from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 520 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Robinson remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Robinson 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 Robinson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Robinsons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. New York, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Robinson, while Pennsylvania, Maryland, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 84 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Robinson
The given name Robinson has its origins in the Old English language and is derived from the combination of the words "rod" meaning "bright" and "beorht" meaning "fame." It is believed to have first emerged as a surname during the Middle Ages, around the 12th century, and was likely used to identify someone who had gained a level of fame or renown within their community.
In its earliest recorded use as a given name, Robinson can be traced back to the 16th century in England. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Robinson Throckmorton, an English landowner and member of Parliament who lived from 1565 to 1626. During this period, the name began to gain popularity among English families, particularly those of noble or aristocratic backgrounds.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Robinson. One of the most famous is Robinson Crusoe, the fictional character created by Daniel Defoe in his 1719 novel of the same name. While not a real person, the character's name has become synonymous with the idea of being stranded on a deserted island, and the novel is considered a literary classic.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Robinson Jeffers, an American poet and environmentalist who lived from 1887 to 1962. His works, which often drew inspiration from the natural world and explored themes of human existence, earned him critical acclaim and a place among the most influential poets of the 20th century.
In the realm of sports, Robinson Canó, a Dominican professional baseball player born in 1982, has achieved significant success. A former second baseman for teams like the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners, Canó was an eight-time All-Star and won two World Series championships.
The name Robinson also has a notable presence in the world of music. Robinson Mills, an American gospel singer and songwriter born in 1976, has gained widespread recognition for his contributions to contemporary Christian music. His albums have topped various Billboard charts and earned him numerous awards and accolades.
While the name Robinson may have originated as a surname, its transition to a given name has been well-established over centuries. Its rich history and diverse bearers have contributed to its enduring popularity and significance across various cultures and societies.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Robinson
People
Robinson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Robinson 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
Robinson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Robinson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,450 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Robinson 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 139,900 US residents.
Is Robinson a common name?
We classify Robinson as "Rare". It ranks above 94.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,889 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Robinson most popular?
The single biggest year for Robinson was 2014, when 64 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Robinson is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Robinson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,773 people with the name Robinson, or 1.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,060 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 Robinson 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 Robinson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Robinson leans strongly male. 4,554 people counted with this name were male (95.3%), compared with 224 female bearers (4.7%). 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 Robinson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Robinson is Hispanic at 52.2%. The next largest groups are White (19.1%) and Black (17.4%). 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 Robinson most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Robinson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.2% (2,492 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 Robinson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Robinson a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Robinson 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 Robinson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Robinson 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 Robinson 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 Robinson as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.