Robert
Around 258,000 Polish men carry it, one of those names everyone knows a few of, but it's fading: only 226 boys got it last year. Germanic at root, meaning "bright fame".
Robert Pronunciation
Robert is pronounced RO-bert (/ˈrɔbɛrt/).
What Robert means
Where Robert comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Robert grew out of the old Germanic name Hrodebert, which fused hrod, meaning fame, with berht, meaning bright. So the name reads as bright fame. Norman speakers carried it across the Channel, and it settled quickly into English and Polish alike.
The two roots gave the name to men who wanted their reputation seen. Robert the Bruce won back the Scottish crown in the fourteenth century. Robert Schumann set German poems to music. Each name pointed toward a fame meant to shine.
In Poland the name keeps its own calendar. Robert Bellarmin, the Italian cardinal who lived from 1542 to 1621, gave it the most common imieniny on 17 September, though many Roberts also celebrate on 17 April. The feminine variant, Roberta, follows the same roots. On a school register a Robert sits among the R names, and the Polish gloss beside it still reads jaśniejący sławą, bright fame.
When Robert celebrates name day
Robert appears 9 times in the Polish name day calendar, 4 of them as a main name, the first on 21 February.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
How many people are named Robert
1 in 83 men in Poland is named Robert. 258,161 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #43 among male names.
Robert's popularity over time
226 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #173 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000. Still the #43 name among living men, even as it slips to #173 among newborns.
Where parents choose Robert
Robert is most popular in Pomeranian, 50% above the national average (233 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Silesian (+35%) and Opole (+27%). It is least common in Holy Cross and Subcarpathian, 59% and 44% below average respectively.
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Pomeranian
+50%1 in 632 babies
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Silesian
+35%1 in 700 babies
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Opole
+27%1 in 743 babies
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Holy Cross
−59%1 in 2,310 babies
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Subcarpathian
−44%1 in 1,675 babies
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Łódź
−36%1 in 1,473 babies
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Pomeranian+50% 233 born1 in 632 babies+50%
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Silesian+35% 325 born1 in 700 babies+35%
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Opole+27% 62 born1 in 743 babies+27%
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Lower Silesian+10% 182 born1 in 863 babies+10%
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Warmian-Masurian+9% 83 born1 in 865 babies+9%
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Masovian+7% 400 born1 in 886 babies+7%
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Lubusz+1% 53 born1 in 937 babies+1%
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Lesser Poland−1% 238 born1 in 953 babies−1%
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West Pomeranian−3% 87 born1 in 970 babies−3%
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Podlaskie−5% 66 born1 in 997 babies−5%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian−8% 106 born1 in 1,032 babies−8%
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Greater Poland−13% 197 born1 in 1,093 babies−13%
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Lublin−35% 71 born1 in 1,446 babies−35%
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Łódź−36% 86 born1 in 1,473 babies−36%
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Subcarpathian−44% 72 born1 in 1,675 babies−44%
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Holy Cross−59% 24 born1 in 2,310 babies−59%
Robert as a middle name
Robert is a first name for 258,161 men in Poland and a middle name for another 129,369, a 67/33 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 24th, between Zbigniew (133,181) and Jacek (125,250).
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#22 Jakub137,852
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#23 Zbigniew133,181
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#24 Robert129,369
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#25 Jacek125,250
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#26 Ryszard123,670