Find out how popular the last name Robinett is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Robinett.

Robinett, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Robinett surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Robinett in America

Robinett is the 8925th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Robinett surname appeared 3,667 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Robinett.

We can also compare 2010 data for Robinett to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Robinett

The surname Robinett is believed to have originated in England during the medieval period. It is considered a variant of the more common surname Robinson, which was derived from the given name Robert, meaning "bright fame" or "shining glory" in Old English. The "ett" suffix was likely added as a diminutive form, indicating a smaller or younger person.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Robinett surname can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Staffordshire in 1232, where a Robert Robinett is mentioned as a landowner. The name also appears in various tax records and legal documents from the 13th and 14th centuries, primarily in the counties of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire.

In the 16th century, the Robinett surname gained some prominence with the rise of William Robinett (1535-1614), a wealthy merchant and landowner from Nottinghamshire. His descendants continued to hold significant land and property holdings in the region for several generations.

During the English Civil War in the 17th century, a John Robinett (1620-1689) served as a captain in the Parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell. He was later granted lands in Derbyshire for his military service.

In the 18th century, the Robinett family had established branches in various parts of England, as well as in Ireland and Scotland. Notable individuals from this period include James Robinett (1725-1802), a renowned clockmaker from Lincolnshire, and Elizabeth Robinett (1760-1842), a philanthropist and activist for women's education in Yorkshire.

As the British Empire expanded, many Robinetts emigrated to various colonies and territories, including North America, Australia, and parts of the Caribbean. One notable figure was Thomas Robinett (1785-1856), a pioneer settler in Upper Canada (modern-day Ontario) who founded the town of Robinettville, now part of the city of Hamilton.

Other notable individuals bearing the Robinett surname throughout history include:

1. Sir Walter Robinett (1845-1923), a British diplomat and ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
2. Mary Robinett (1870-1942), an American suffragist and advocate for women's rights.
3. Robert Robinett (1908-1995), an American businessman and philanthropist who established the Robinett Foundation.
4. Courtney Robinett (1938-2002), a Canadian author and poet known for her works exploring Indigenous culture and heritage.
5. David Robinett (born 1964), an American computer scientist and entrepreneur, co-founder of the virtual reality company Oculus VR.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Robinett

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Robinett.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Robinett was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Robinett has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Robinett was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Robinett, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!