Robbin
Diminutive of Robert, meaning "bright fame" or "bright renown".
Name Census estimates that about 8,281 living Americans carry the first name Robbin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 82.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Robbin today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Robbin births was 1959 (713 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Robbin. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Robbin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
8.3K
~ 1 in 41,390 Americans
Peak year
1959
713 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,912
Tracked since 1929
Census
Robbin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,310 people with the first name Robbin, which placed it at #2,793 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,793
National first-name rank
People counted
8.3K
8,310 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Robbin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Robbin is White at 72.7%. The next largest groups are Black (19.5%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Robbin described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Robbin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.7% · 6,045
- Black or African American19.5% · 1,622
- Two or more races3.1% · 256
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 212
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 106
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 69
Gender
Gender distribution for Robbin
Robbin leans heavily female at 82.7% of total registrations, but 1,794 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Robbin as a male name
- Ranked #13,912 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 1957 (85 births)
Robbin as a female name
- Ranked #17,106 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1959 (650 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Robbin leans strongly female. 7,056 people counted with this name were female (85.0%), compared with 1,245 male bearers (15.0%).
Popularity
Robbin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Robbin from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 4,073 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Robbin 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 Robbin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Robbins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Robbin, while Maine, South Dakota, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 172 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Robbin
The name Robbin has its roots in the Old German language, originating from the word "Raubo" which means "famous" or "renowned." It was a popular name among Germanic tribes during the Middle Ages, particularly in the regions of modern-day Germany and the Netherlands.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Robbin can be found in the Nibelungenlied, an epic poem from the 13th century. The poem mentions a character named Robbin, a renowned warrior who fought alongside the legendary hero Siegfried.
In the 14th century, a French monk named Robbin de Gournay gained fame for his scholarly works on theology and philosophy. He was born in 1320 and is considered one of the most influential thinkers of his time.
During the Renaissance period, Robbin Van der Donck, a Dutch lawyer and writer, played a significant role in the establishment of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which later became New York. He was born in 1610 and his writings provided valuable insights into the early colonial history of the region.
In the 18th century, Robbin Sinclair, a Scottish explorer and adventurer, made his mark by undertaking daring expeditions to the Arctic regions. He was born in 1740 and is remembered for his contributions to the field of Arctic exploration.
Another notable figure bearing the name Robbin was Robbin Edwards, an English painter and engraver from the 19th century. Born in 1815, Edwards was renowned for his intricate landscape paintings and his works are still highly valued by art collectors and museums.
Throughout history, the name Robbin has been associated with individuals who have achieved fame and renown in various fields, from warfare and exploration to art and literature. It has maintained a strong presence across different cultures and time periods, reflecting its rich historical significance.
People
Robbin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Robbin 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
Robbin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Robbin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,281 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Robbin 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 41,390 US residents.
Is Robbin a common name?
We classify Robbin as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,384 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Robbin most popular?
The single biggest year for Robbin was 1959, when 713 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Robbin is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Robbin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,310 people with the name Robbin, or 2.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,793 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Robbin in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Robbin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Robbin leans strongly female. 7,056 people counted with this name were female (85.0%), compared with 1,245 male bearers (15.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Robbin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Robbin is White at 72.7%. The next largest groups are Black (19.5%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Robbin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Robbin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.7% (6,045 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Robbin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Robbin a female name?
Yes, 82.7% of people registered as Robbin in the SSA data are female. 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.
Is Robbin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Robbin in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Robbin can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are named Robbin?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.