Roberts Surname

Meaning and origin of the surname Roberts

Patronymic surname derived from the Germanic personal name Robert ('bright fame'), signifying 'son of Robert'.

Historically and linguistically, Roberts belongs to the Germanic, English and Welsh family of surnames. It is conventionally pronounced "ROB-erts".

United States Census frequency and ranking

In the official 2010 United States Census, Roberts was recorded 376,774 times, ranking as the 50th most common surname in the nation.

This represents an incidence rate of approximately 127.73 bearers per 100,000 Americans, or roughly 1 out of every 783 residents.

Race and ethnicity distribution

According to official decennial Census genealogy microdata, individuals bearing the surname Robertsreported the following racial and ethnic affiliations in the 2010 US Census:

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 Census Surnames Data. Percentages may not sum to exactly 100% due to independent rounding or suppression of small cell counts for privacy protection.

History of the surname Roberts

Roberts is a patronymic surname formed by adding the English and Welsh genitive -s suffix to the personal name Robert. Robert derives from ancient Germanic Hrodebert, composed of hrod ('fame', 'renown') and berht ('bright', 'illustrious'), brought to Britain by the Normans in 1066, where it rapidly displaced native Anglo-Saxon names.

While used in England from the thirteenth century onward, Roberts became exceptionally prevalent in Wales following the sixteenth-century Act of Union, when the Welsh population was required to adopt fixed hereditary family names, adapting the traditional Welsh patronymic ap Robert ('son of Robert') into Roberts.

Roberts was carried to early Pennsylvania and the American South by Welsh Quaker and English settlers. In modern American public life, the name is prominent through Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts and Academy Award-winning actress Julia Roberts. In the 2010 US Census, Roberts ranked 50th nationwide with 376,774 recorded bearers (127.73 per 100,000 Americans).

Notable people with the surname Roberts

• Julia Roberts (1967–), American Academy Award-winning actress
• John Roberts (1955–), 17th Chief Justice of the United States
• Oral Roberts (1918–2009), American television evangelist and university founder
• Robin Roberts (1960–), American television broadcaster and anchor of Good Morning America