Robson
The name of English origin meaning "Robert's son".
Name Census estimates that about 122 living Americans carry the first name Robson. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Robson today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Robson births was 2006 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Robson. 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.
People living today
122
~ 1 in 2,809,462 Americans
Peak year
2006
9 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2020 SSA rank
#11,721
Tracked since 1989
Popularity
Robson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Robson from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 59 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Robson 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 Robson 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 Robson
Robson is a masculine given name with origins that can be traced back to the Middle Ages in England. It is derived from the Old English words "rob" and "sunu," which together mean "son of Rob" or "son of Robert." The name Robert itself has Germanic roots and means "bright renown" or "bright fame."
During the Middle Ages, the use of surnames became more widespread in England, and patronymic surnames, which identified a person as the son of someone else, were common. Robson emerged as a patronymic surname, indicating that the bearer was the son of a man named Robert or Rob.
While Robson was initially used as a surname, over time, it also gained popularity as a given name, particularly in Northern England and Scotland. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Robson can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Northumberland in 1268, where a man named William Robson is mentioned.
Historically, the name Robson has been associated with various notable figures. One of the earliest examples is Sir Thomas Robson (c. 1320-1384), an English knight who served under King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War. Another notable bearer of the name was George Fenwick Robson (1788-1833), an English poet and essayist known for his contributions to the Romantic literary movement.
In the field of sports, Robson has been a prominent name. Sir Bobby Robson (1933-2009) was an English football player and manager who led the England national team to the semi-finals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Paul Robson (1882-1976) was an American bass singer and actor who achieved international fame for his performances in musicals and operas, as well as his activism in the civil rights movement.
Other notable individuals with the name Robson include Stuart Robson (1836-1903), an American actor and comedian who gained popularity in the late 19th century, and Thomas George Robson (1808-1876), an English architect who designed several notable buildings in the North East of England.
While the name Robson has its origins in England, it has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly through migration and cultural exchange. However, its historical roots can be traced back to the Middle Ages, where it emerged as a patronymic surname and later evolved into a given name.
People
Robson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Robson 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
Robson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Robson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 122 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Robson 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 2,809,462 US residents.
Is Robson a common name?
We classify Robson as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 124 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Robson most popular?
The single biggest year for Robson was 2006, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Robson is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Robson a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Robson 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.
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.