boys' name ★ peaked 1947

Robert

Meaning shining glory Gender Boy Rank 2025 #92 Trend ↓ Falling 18%

From Anglo-Norman Robert, from the Old Frankish cognate of Old High German Hrodperht (normalised form: Ruodberht), from Proto-West Germanic *Hrōþiberht, from…

Rank 2025
#92
among boys · ↓2 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
3,777
named Robert · -1% vs 2024
How common
1 in 453
boys born in 2025
Peak year
1947
91,892 babies
All-time total
4,869,849
#3 all-time among boys
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Robert popularity over time

4,869,849 babies have been named Robert since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
18.7537.556.257518801900192019401960198020002020BoysGirls
BoysGirls

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 119 24,074 24,193 2,419 – #8
1890s 172 26,147 26,319 2,632 +9% #7
1900s 197 35,849 36,046 3,605 +37% #5
1910s 1,052 239,185 240,237 24,024 +566% #4
1920s 3,240 576,374 579,614 57,961 +141% #1
1930s 2,736 590,810 593,546 59,355 +2% #1
1940s 2,114 758,126 760,240 76,024 +28% #2
1950s 2,199 830,395 832,594 83,259 +10% #1
1960s 2,680 650,786 653,466 65,347 -22% #5
1970s 2,628 397,225 399,853 39,985 -39% #5
1980s 2,206 321,655 323,861 32,386 -19% #8
1990s 537 205,459 205,996 20,600 -36% #13
2000s 164 106,666 106,830 10,683 -48% #29
2010s 58 62,654 62,712 6,271 -41% #54
2020s (to 2025) 17 24,325 24,342 4,057 -35% #79

Where Robert is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 boys (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 boys Implied rank
2026 3,648 2.14 #96
2027 3,547 2.08 #99
2028 3,462 2.03 #103
2029 3,392 1.99 #105
2030 3,334 1.95 #105

Where Robert is most popular

Boys named Robert per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 2.31 per 1,000. Strongest in District of Columbia, Alaska, and Vermont.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named Robert born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Boys 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
District of Columbia 92 6.23 +170%
Alaska 74 6.21 +169%
Vermont 36 5.73 +149%
Wyoming 29 5.01 +117%
New Hampshire 109 4.91 +113%
Delaware 72 4.75 +106%
Mississippi 258 4.54 +97%
Rhode Island 68 4.17 +81%
South Carolina 422 4.08 +77%
Connecticut 266 3.93 +70%
Maine 76 3.92 +70%
Alabama 424 3.88 +68%
Montana 61 3.46 +50%
Virginia 650 3.43 +49%
Massachusetts 469 3.41 +48%
Hawaii 52 3.35 +45%
New Mexico 110 3.34 +45%
West Virginia 109 3.34 +45%
Pennsylvania 872 3.28 +42%
Tennessee 572 3.17 +37%
Georgia 782 3.09 +34%
New Jersey 617 3.06 +33%
Kentucky 304 3.03 +31%
Arkansas 188 2.97 +29%
North Carolina 756 2.96 +28%
Missouri 404 2.91 +26%
Ohio 758 2.86 +24%
South Dakota 53 2.85 +23%
Michigan 570 2.78 +21%
Maryland 329 2.76 +20%
Louisiana 281 2.75 +19%
New York 1,153 2.66 +15%
Colorado 340 2.63 +14%
Wisconsin 300 2.53 +10%
Illinois 643 2.52 +9%
Florida 1,188 2.51 +9%
Indiana 400 2.49 +8%
Kansas 171 2.49 +8%
Nevada 130 2.28 ≈ national
Oklahoma 201 2.27 ≈ national
Nebraska 98 2.25 ≈ national
North Dakota 38 2.23 ≈ national
California 2,033 2.22 ≈ national
Minnesota 270 2.20 -5%
Idaho 89 2.17 -6%
Oregon 164 2.16 -6%
Texas 1,887 2.14 -7%
Arizona 322 1.97 -15%
Washington 320 1.96 -15%
Iowa 128 1.86 -20%
Utah 176 1.84 -20%

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Robert

Robert is a top-100 name for boys in the United States, ranked #92 in 2025 with 3,772 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 4,869,849 American babies have been named Robert. Its peak came in 1947, when 91,892 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1940s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Robert stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Robert?

The median living Robert is about 61 years old; half are between 45 and 72. An estimated 2.7 million people named Robert are alive in the United States today.

median 61 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Robert year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 5 #16,772 3,772 #92
2024 – – 3,806 #90
2023 6 #14,835 3,827 #88
2022 6 #14,954 4,082 #84
2021 – – 4,436 #79
2020 – – 4,402 #80
2019 6 #15,210 4,853 #76
2018 – – 5,191 #71
2017 – – 5,566 #65
2016 – – 6,010 #62
2015 8 #12,776 6,137 #63
2014 8 #12,837 6,660 #60
2013 8 #12,923 6,721 #62
2012 7 #14,678 6,963 #60
2011 9 #11,962 6,984 #62
2010 12 #9,682 7,569 #54
2009 11 #10,526 7,842 #55
2008 7 #15,074 8,841 #49
2007 9 #12,454 9,388 #47
2006 11 #10,463 9,911 #47
2005 17 #7,083 10,166 #37
2004 35 #4,071 10,684 #36
2003 16 #7,134 11,399 #35
2002 14 #7,744 12,031 #34
2001 21 #5,525 12,665 #30
2000 23 #5,118 13,739 #29
1995 44 #2,777 18,586 #22
1990 109 #1,442 28,886 #13
1985 238 #725 32,094 #8
1980 254 #683 34,266 #9
1975 245 #635 35,306 #6
1970 327 #562 57,177 #5
1965 255 #609 63,106 #5
1960 268 #613 72,357 #5
1955 232 #608 83,758 #4
1950 203 #594 83,553 #2
1945 198 #518 69,947 #2
1940 206 #467 61,198 #2
1935 231 #426 56,527 #1
1930 426 #320 62,153 #1
1925 350 #364 60,895 #1
1920 205 #476 48,679 #3
1915 116 #609 28,737 #4
1910 29 #809 5,609 #4
1905 21 #820 3,410 #6
1900 24 #756 3,821 #6
1895 20 #722 2,635 #8
1890 12 #818 2,541 #8
1885 11 #692 2,322 #9
1880 12 #515 2,415 #10

Famous people named Robert

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Robert Redford Robert Redford American actor and director (1936–2025) Contemporary
  2. 2 Robert Duvall Robert Duvall American actor and filmmaker (1931–2026) Contemporary
  3. 3 Robert De Niro Robert De Niro American actor (born 1943) Contemporary
  4. 4 Robert F. Kennedy Robert F. Kennedy American politician and lawyer (1925–1968) Contemporary
  5. 5 Robert Wadlow Robert Wadlow Tallest person in recorded history (1918–1940) Contemporary
  6. 6 Robert the Bruce Robert the Bruce King of Scotland from 1306 to 1329 1274–1329 · Medieval
  7. 7 Robert Mugabe Robert Mugabe Leader of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2017 1924–2019 · Contemporary
  8. 8 Robert Johnson Robert Johnson American blues musician and songwriter (1911–1938) Contemporary
  9. 9 Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson Scottish novelist and poet (1850–1894) 19th century
  10. 10 Robert Frost Robert Frost American poet (1874–1963) 19th century
  11. 11 Robert Burns Robert Burns Scottish poet and lyricist (1759–1796) 18th century
  12. 12 Robert Hooke Robert Hooke English polymath (1635–1703) 17th century
  13. 13 Robert Schumann Robert Schumann German composer, pianist and critic (1810–1856) 19th century
  14. 14 Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell British soldier and founder of The Scout Association (1857–1941) 19th century
  15. 15 Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury British statesman (1830–1903) 19th century
  16. 16 Robert Koch Robert Koch German physician and bacteriologist (1843–1910) 19th century
  17. 17 Robert Boyle Robert Boyle Anglo-Irish scientist (1627–1691) 17th century
  18. 18 Robert Peary Robert Peary American explorer (1856–1920) 19th century
  19. 19 Robert Owen Robert Owen Welsh social reformer (1771–1858) 18th century
  20. 20 Robert Capa Robert Capa Hungarian-American photographer (1913–1954) Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Robert, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Robert?

The median living Robert is about 61 years old. Half of all living Roberts are between 45 and 72 years old.

How many people named Robert are alive today?

An estimated 2.7 million people named Robert are alive in the United States, based on 4,869,849 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Robert mean?

From Anglo-Norman Robert, from the Old Frankish cognate of Old High German Hrodperht (normalised form: Ruodberht), from Proto-West Germanic *Hrōþiberht, from Proto-Germanic *Hrōþiberhtaz (literally “shining glory”).

How popular is the name Robert in 2025?

Robert ranked #92 among boys' names in the United States in 2025, with 3,772 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Robert?

4,869,849 babies have been named Robert in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Robert most popular?

Robert peaked in 1947, when 91,892 newborns received the name.

Is Robert a boy or girl name?

Robert is overwhelmingly a boy's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Robert rising or falling?

Robert is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Robert become more popular?

Robert is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 3,334 boys named Robert in 2030, which would rank around #105. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Robert?

Well-known people named Robert include Robert Redford (actor), Robert Duvall (actor), Robert De Niro (actor).

Names like Robert

Names that sound and feel close to Robert: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Robert with similar names → More names starting with R →