Robert is an ancient Germanic French surname. It is derived from the Proto-Germanic elements *Hrōþi- ("fame, glory, honour") and *berhta- ("bright, shining"). Despite being used as a surname, it is most commonly used as a given name (see Robert). Geographical distribution As of 2014, 27.0% of all known bearers of the surname Robert were residents of France (frequency 1:472), 22.8% of Tanzania (1:434), 10.6% of Nigeria (1:3,177), 6.0% of the United States (1:11,438), 3.7% of Canada (1:1,926), 2.9% of Papua New Guinea (1:534), 2.5% of Malawi (1:1,335), 2.2% of Kenya (1:3,929), 2.1% of Rwanda (1:1,018), 1.9% of Togo (1:721), 1.3% Haiti (1:1,631), 1.2% of Belgium (1:1,822), 1.2% of Liberia (1:722), 1.1% of Sudan (1:6,756) and 1.1% of South Africa (1:9,780). In France, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:472) in the following regions: 1. Réunion (1:56) 2. Collectivity of Saint Martin (1:119) 3. Saint Pierre and Miquelon (1:337) 4. Pays de la Loire (1:369) 5. Brittany (1:378) 6. Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (1:414) 7. Centre-Val de Loire (1:420) 8. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (1:432) 9. Nouvelle-Aquitaine (1:471) People with the surname Alain Robert, French rock and urban climber Hubert Robert, French painter Jeanne Robert (1914–2017), French Resistance member Laurent Robert, French footballer Louise Robert (born 1941), Canadian painter Léo-Paul Robert, Swiss painter Louis-Léopold Robert, Swiss painter Luis Robert, Cuban baseball outfielder for the Chicago White Sox Mireille Robert (born 1963), French politician Rene Robert, star National Hockey League forward for the Buffalo Sabres Robert brothers, Anne-Jean and Nicolas-Louis, French balloonists circa 1783–4, the engineers who built the world's first hydrogen balloon and went on to build the world's first manned hydrogen balloon See also Roberts (surname) Surnames from given names References French-language surnames Germanic-language surnames