MEANING & HISTORY
What does Robinson mean?
Robinson is a patronymic surname transferred into first-name use. It combines Robin with son; Robin belongs historically to the Robert family.
The immediate surname construction is son of Robin rather than a newly assembled Germanic compound. Robinson Crusoe is a prominent literary association, but neither that character nor an actual father named Robin is required to explain every bearer.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
English
- /ˈɹɒb.ɪn.sən/Received-Pronunciation
- /ˈɹɑb.ɪn.sən/General-American
- /ˈɹɑb.ən.sən/General-American
Rob · in · son3 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
From Robin + -son.
A male given name transferred from the surname.
Wiktionary: Robinson (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
2
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Robinson in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Robinson
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Benson·Surname name: Benedict patronymic or place-name route
- Johnson♂Son of John
- Robin♂♀Old French familiar form of Robert; also a bird name
- Robina♀Feminine form of Robin
- Ronron♂Familiar form of Byron or Ronald
- Allison♀Form of Alison/Alice; also a surname name
- Anson♂Surname-derived form with competing family-name accounts
- Edilson·Documented Brazilian name with the -ilson formation
What rhymes with Robinson?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Explore Robinson further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wiktionary contributors — Robinson (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Robinson (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.
- Wiktionary: Robin (opens in a new tab)
Explicit lexical or parent-name step in the described formation.