Robin
From the diminutive of Robert, an Old German name meaning "bright fame".
Name Census estimates that about 273,466 living Americans carry the first name Robin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Robin today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Robin births was 1961 (17,503 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Robin. 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 Robin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Compared to the 1960s, recent registration numbers for Robin have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
273K
~ 1 in 1,253 Americans
Peak year
1961
17,503 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2024 SSA rank
#799
Tracked since 1881
Census
Robin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 284,365 people with the first name Robin, which placed it at #185 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
#185
National first-name rank
People counted
284K
284,365 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
94.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Robin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Robin is White at 81.8%. The next largest groups are Black (9.7%) 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 Robin 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 Robin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.8% · 232,741
- Black or African American9.7% · 27,589
- Two or more races3.1% · 8,693
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 8,300
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 4,885
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2,157
Gender
Gender distribution for Robin
Robin leans heavily female at 86.2% of total registrations, but 46,562 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Robin as a male name
- Ranked #810 in 2024
- 310 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1956 (2,247 births)
Robin as a female name
- Ranked #799 in 2024
- 351 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1961 (15,651 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Robin leans strongly female. 246,306 people counted with this name were female (86.6%), compared with 38,065 male bearers (13.4%).
Popularity
Robin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Robin from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 129,174 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
Robin 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 Robin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Robins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Ohio recorded the most babies named Robin, while Wyoming, Alaska, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6,478 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Robin
The given name Robin is derived from the Germanic name Robyn, which is a diminutive of the name Robert. The name Robert is derived from the Germanic elements "hrod" (fame) and "berht" (bright). The name Robin first emerged in the Medieval period, around the 12th century, and was initially a nickname for someone with a bright, reddish complexion, likely inspired by the red-breasted robin bird.
In the 13th century, the name Robin gained popularity as a given name, particularly in England and France. It was often associated with the folklore character Robin Hood, a heroic outlaw said to have robbed from the rich and given to the poor during the reign of King Richard I in the late 12th century. The earliest recorded use of the name Robin as a given name dates back to 1256 in England.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Robin was Robin de Beaumont, a 13th-century English nobleman and crusader. Another notable figure was Robin de Rede, a 14th-century English outlaw and leader of a band of robbers known as the "Roberdsmen."
In literature, the name Robin first appeared in the 14th-century ballads and plays about Robin Hood. One of the earliest examples is the 14th-century poem "A Gest of Robyn Hode," which depicts Robin as a skilled archer and swordsman who robs from the rich and gives to the poor.
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Robin, including:
1. Robin, Earl of Richmond (1157-1234), an English nobleman and military leader during the reign of King John.
2. Robin Redbreast (1550-1628), an English folk hero and outlaw from Yorkshire.
3. Robin Goodfellow (16th century), a mischievous fairy or hobgoblin from English folklore.
4. Robin Wortley (1590-1652), an English Puritan clergyman and theologian.
5. Robin des Bois (1673-1753), a French playwright and author known for his contributions to the Robin Hood legend.
The name Robin has remained a popular choice for boys throughout the centuries, particularly in English-speaking countries. Its association with the legendary Robin Hood has contributed to its enduring appeal and romantic connotations.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Robin
People
Robin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Robin 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
Robin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Robin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 273,466 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Robin 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 1,253 US residents.
Is Robin a common name?
We classify Robin as "Common". It ranks above 99.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 338,120 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Robin most popular?
The single biggest year for Robin was 1961, when 17,503 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Robin is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Robin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 284,365 people with the name Robin, or 94.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #185 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 Robin 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 Robin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Robin leans strongly female. 246,306 people counted with this name were female (86.6%), compared with 38,065 male bearers (13.4%). 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 Robin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Robin is White at 81.8%. The next largest groups are Black (9.7%) 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 Robin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Robin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.8% (232,741 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 Robin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Robin a female name?
Yes, 86.2% of people registered as Robin 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 Robin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Robin 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 Robin 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 share the name Robin?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.