Skip to main content

Robin


A while ago someone asked me what I thought of Robin for a little girl's name, so I looked into how popular it was, and I was shocked that there were only 143 baby girls named Robin in 2011. Robin, the name of the bird (my state bird), is one of the truly unisex names out there. Some may see it better on girls or boys, but this one has no rules, just like Sage and Rowan. However, back in the day it was used as a pet form of Robert (most will remember Robin Hood immediately, or Batman & Robin, although this name has been used by William Shakespeare as well) and it was Germanic, meaning "bright fame." In this case, it could still work very well for boys named Robert (for parents who do not like the nickname Robby/Rob). For girls, it has not ranked since 2004, a decline from it's highest ranking at #25 in 1962 and 1963, always ranking since 1932. For boys, it has ranked since 1881, it's highest ranking being at #143 in 1956, then falling off the charts in 1999. Overall, more popular for girls in modern times. Robinet/Robinette and Robina are two rarely heard female variations.

Looking for a different bird name? Perhaps Birdie, Feather, Wren, Lark, Nightingale, Cardinal, Oriole, Dove, Linnet, Swan, Finch, Heron, Starling, Kestrel or Weaver?

Here's a fun fact: actor Robin Williams named his daughter Zelda after the video game.


Labels:

Comments

  1. RenSeptember 8, 2012 at 10:32 PM

    I really like the name Robin for a girl. I know a girl and her middle name is Robin. She was named after her dad Robin.

    ReplyDelete
  2. CristinaSeptember 8, 2012 at 11:58 PM

    I've only known girls with this name, too. One is my age and one is my mom's age.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sailor Moon Baby Names

As a long-time fan girl of Sailor Moon, I was thrilled to hear about a potential reboot of the series, which was supposed to be in 2013 and has now been pushed to 2014. It's been over 20 years since Sailor Moon first aired, but many still get a warm fuzzy feeling when they think of the show. What is not often mentioned is how well researched Takeuchi's name choices were. She covered gems, minerals, astrology, mythology and creative word choices. Today I'll talk about Sailor Moon names. Usagi Tsukino- Bunny - Serena - Princess Serenity - Sailor Moon Usagi means "rabbit" in Japanese, referring to the Japanese legend of the rabbit on the moon, and Tsukino means "moon." In the translation of the comics, Usagi was renamed Bunny appropriately. Keeping with the mythological aspects of the moon and both Greek and Roman moon goddesses, Usagi's character was given the concept of "serene," which gave her the name Serena in the American TV series (a...
3 comments
Read more

Galician Baby Names

I grew up on a street that was named an Italian variant of Roger. When I got married and we bought our first house, it turned out to be on Roger Street. Once noting that coincidence, I started searching for other variants of the name. However, female variants turned out to be pretty nonexistent. Save for Roxeria, which I later discovered was the Galician female form, possibly pronounced rohz-AIR-ee-uh. That led me to a few lists of female Galician names, ranging from common to rare. Here is a sampling of names not often heard here in the states... Albina Alda Alma Alodia Aloia Amada Amadora Amalia Amparo Anisia Antia Araceli Aranzazu Artemisa Avelina Azucena Baia Balbina Baltasara Beatriz Benvida Berenice Bieita Branca Braulia Caetana Carola Casilda Casimira Ceferina Celsa Cipriana Cira Clorinda Coralia Cornelia Cosima Davinia Delfina Desideria Dionisia Dominga Dorinda Dorotea Dositea Edelmira Edenia Elba Elvira Emiliana Etelvina ...
2 comments
Read more

Melisande, Melisende

The cover of E. Nesbit's Melisande Melisande (MAY-lee-sahnd French, English tend to say MELL-iss-ahnd)  is the French variant of Amalswintha, and the inspiration for the English name Millicent, meaning "strong worker." There has been some confusion on the name's connection to Melissa, meaning "honey bee." There's a possibility that each spelling variation has a different origin - Melisande from Melissa and perhaps Melisande as cognate with Millicent, but that is speculation, and there could be absolutely no connection to Melissa at all. Melisende was a popular name in France in the Middle Ages. This name has quite the list of credentials, including a play, opera, and fairy tale. Besides the play  Pelléas and Mélisande  by Maeterlinck, the opera by Debussy, and the fairy tale mentioned above, Melisande was the alias of a character in the Broadway show Bells are Ringing , a handmaid in the book Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm, a character in The G...
5 comments
Read more