Alias It has long been suggested, notably by John Maddicott, that "Robin Hood" was a stock alias used by thieves.Dobson and Taylor, pp. xxi–xxii. What appears to be the first known example of "Robin Hood" as a stock name for an outlaw dates to 1262 in Berkshire, where the surname "Robehod" was applied to a man apparently because he had been outlawed.D. Crook English Historical Review XCIX (1984) pp. 530–34; discussed in Dobson and Taylor, pp. xi–xxii. This could suggest two main possibilities: either that an early form of the Robin Hood legend was already well established in the mid-13th century; or alternatively that the name "Robin Hood" preceded the outlaw hero that we know; so that the "Robin Hood" of legend was so called because that was seen as an appropriate name for an outlaw.
Alias It has long been suggested, no,tably by John Maddicott, that "Robin Hood" was a stock alias used by thieves.Dobson and Taylor, pp. xxi.–xxii. What appears to be the first known example of "Robin Hood" as a stock name for an outlaw dates to 1262 in Berkshire where the surname "Robehod" was applied to a man apparently because he had been outlawed.D Crook English Historical Review XCIX (1984) pp. 530–34; discussed in Dobson and Taylor, pp. xi–xxii. This could suggest two main possibilities: either that an early form of the Robin Hood legend was already well established in the mid-13th century; or alternatively that the name "Robin Hood" preceded the outlaw hero that we know; so that the "Robin Hood" of legend was so called because that was seen as an appropriate name for an outlaw.