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

Robson, 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 Robson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Robson in America

Robson is the 4368th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Robson surname appeared 8,137 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Robson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Robson 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 Robson

The surname Robson is an English patronymic name derived from the personal name Robert. It originated in the north of England, particularly in Northumberland and Durham, during the 12th century. The name can be traced back to the Old French name Robert, which was a Norman variation of the Germanic name Rodbert, meaning "bright renown."

Robson was a common surname in medieval England, and it appears in various historical records from that era. One of the earliest known mentions of the name Robson is in the Pipe Rolls of Northumberland from 1195, where a Robert Robson is listed as a landowner.

In the 13th century, the surname Robson can be found in the Feet of Fines, legal records of land transfers, for counties like Northumberland and Yorkshire. This suggests that the Robson family held significant landholdings in these areas during that period.

The Robson name is also documented in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, a census-like survey of landowners in England. This record includes references to individuals such as William Robson in Berkshire and Richard Robson in Oxfordshire.

One notable historical figure with the surname Robson was Sir Thomas Robson (c. 1530-1598), an English politician and landowner from Northumberland. He served as a Member of Parliament and held positions such as High Sheriff of Northumberland.

Another prominent individual was Charles Robson (1598-1638), an English clergyman and academic who served as the President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, from 1629 until his death.

In the 18th century, Jonathan Robson (1737-1823) was a distinguished English architect who designed several notable buildings in London, including the Royal Brunswick Theatre and the former Surrey County Gaol.

The Robson surname has also been associated with notable literary figures, such as William Robson (1785-1863), an English author and dramatist who wrote plays and novels in the early 19th century.

In the 20th century, Sir Bobby Robson (1933-2009) was a highly respected English footballer and manager who played for various clubs, including West Bromwich Albion and England's national team, and later managed teams like Ipswich Town, England, and Newcastle United.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Robson

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

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 Robson 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 Robson 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 Robson was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Robson, 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!