Robin

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Robyn in AU Australia, IE Ireland, ZA South Africa and 2 more.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 19 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Robin is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name559K records spelled Robin5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Belgium, Canada

  Also written Robîn, Robin'

• a separate given name398K records spelled Robin2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Robín

• Hindi given name272K records spelled Robin46 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Bangladesh, United States, United Kingdom

  Languages: Hindi, Bangla, Urdu

  Also written রবিন, Robyn, Rubin, Robeen, Roubin

• Czech given name66K records spelled Robin21 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Czechia, United States, Croatia, Slovakia

  Languages: Czech, Croatian, Bulgarian

  Also written Robyn, Робин, Röbïn, Řőbiń, Řòbín

• Portuguese given name42K records spelled Robin5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, Portugal

  Also written Robín, Robiñ, Rôbîn, Róbin

94 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Robin is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, Originally a pet form; now sometimes used as a name.

  as a name·Irish first names

• ,2 Originally a pet form of pRobert, from the short form Rob + the diminutive suffix -in (of Old French origin), but now nearly always used as an independent RODERICK name. In recent years it has been increasingly used as a girl’s name, partly under the influence of the vocabulary word denoting the bird. Variant: Robyn (9).

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, Any of various passerine birds (about 100 species) of the families Muscicapidae, Turdidae and Petroicidae (formerly Eopsaltriidae), typically with a red breast.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, sheep, calf

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, Le mot robin peut désigner un « homme de robe » de façon assez péjorative. Il s’agit ici d’un autre sens, celui d’« homme de peu », quasiment sorti de l’usage. Il dérive de Robert qui, dans l’ancienne littérature, était souvent le nom d’un paysan prétentieux.

  as a name·2500 noms propres devenus communs : dictionnaire étymologique (éponymes, antonomases et hypallages)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 132 years between 1881–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Robin Warrenb. 1937AUAustralian microbiologist and Nobel Laureate (1937–2024)
• Robin Williamsb. 1951USAmerican actor and comedian (1951–2014)
• Paul Krugmanb. 1953USnot in their usual nameAmerican economist (born 1953)
• Robin Wrightb. 1966USAmerican actress
• Robin Tunneyb. 1972USAmerican actress
• Banksyb. 1973GBnot in their usual nameEnglish graffiti artist, political activist, and painter
• Robin Thickeb. 1977USAmerican singer, songwriter, and record producer (born 1977)
• Robin van Persieb. 1983NLDutch association football player and manager
• Robin Schulzb. 1987DEGerman house music producer (born 1987)
• Robin Gosensb. 1994DEGerman footballer

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,877 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Robin?

We estimate roughly 360 thousand people bear Robin (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Robin have the most bearers?

Robin is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled robin.

Where is Robin most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Robin is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 331 people — even though United Kingdom holds more of our records for it.

How common is Robin compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, Robin is the 114th most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is Robin a male or female name?

Robin is recorded for both men and women. We don't publish a percentage split: a record's gender belongs to the person and is attached to every given name on that record, so names in cultures where a name string also carries a parent's or spouse's given name pick up large cross-gender counts.

What does the name Robin mean?

Recorded meaning: (i) from the male personal name Robin, a pet-form of Robert; (ii) different form of Rabin