Robb is a

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

origin, formed from a diminution (reduction) of the name Robert. Robert was a popular name, especially after its use by three Scots Kings in the fourteenth century. Rob is first recorded as a surname in the mid-15th century, with a handful of individuals recorded in the decades either side of 1500. As the 16th century progressed there were early groupings in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

, Lanarkshire and later in

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

/ Stirlingshire. It is likely that the name originated with the offspring of a Robert or Rob, when surnames began to flourish, but unlike some surnames there is no one source for the name. The surname was originally spelled Rob, sometimes Robe, but by 1800 the vast majority of families had added an extra 'b', an exception being a wealthy farming family of Perthshire origin that settled in Thirsk, Yorkshire. Although the surname originates in Scotland, Protestant branches of the family settled in Ireland during the sixteenth century

Plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

, with the earliest record of the name appearing in the 1630s. The Robb of Timpany family originated with one James Robb who in the late seventeenth century was said to have been a chief mason of the King's Works in Ireland and an assistant of

Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable archit ...

. A descendant Captain James Robb built Timpany House in 1780. Another armorial Robb family used the surname Robe, descending from Reverend James Robe of Kilsyth (1688–1753), son of Reverend Michael Rob of Cumbernauld (1645–1721), although their coat of arms recorded with the Lord Lyon descends from the Hamilton family through marriage. The Robb crest shows a bare arm holding a chapeau surrounded with a laurel wreath. It appears that many Robbs emigrated to the New World from Ireland, rather than Scotland. The surname sometimes became Raab, presumably through the pronunciation, although many Robbs in the New World are originally Raubs of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

origin. Amongst many Scottish settlers, there were three Jacobite soldiers (from Angus and Midlothian) transported to America following the Jacobite rising of 1715, and the first Free Kirk Minister to settle in Canada was the Rev. Ralph Robb (1800–1850) a native of Logie parish near Stirling. The name is often recorded as a sept of the Clan MacFarlane who were based historically on the eastern side of Loch Lomond, but this only stems from an early inclusion of the surname MacRobb, (which is a Highland surname), as a MacFarlane sept. It is unlikely there was ever a link between the, largely, lowland surname and the

highland clan A Scottish clan (from Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure recognised ...

. It is the 192nd (equal) most popular surname in Scotland, judging by births, marriages and deaths in 2018.National Records of Scotland website

People with the surname Robb

Alfred Robb Alfred Arthur Robb FRS (18 January 1873 in Belfast – 14 December 1936 in Castlereagh) was a Northern Irish physicist. Biography Robb studied at Queen's College, Belfast (BA 1894) and at St John's College, Cambridge (Tripos 1897, MA 1901) ...

(1873–1935), English physicist *

Andrew Robb Andrew John Robb (born 20 August 1951) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 2004 to 2016, representing the Liberal Party. He served as Minister for Trade and Investment (2013–2016) in the ...

(born 1951), Australian politician * AnnaSophia Robb (born 1993), American actress, model, and singer *

Bruce Robb Bruce Robb is an American musician, record producer, engineer, and music supervisor. He is most recognized for his time as a member of "The Robbs" during the 1960s, then as a founder of Cherokee Studios in the 1970s; followed by decades of prod ...

(born 1954), American record producer * Candace Robb (born 1959), American author *

Carole Robb Carole Robb (1943) is a British artist and member of the National Academy of Design, New York. She lives between New York City, Rome, Venice, and London. Early life and education Robb was born in Port Glasgow, Scotland in 1943 and studied painti ...

(born 1943), Scottish painter * Chuck Robb (born 1939), American politician * Curtis Robb (born 1972), British middle distance athlete * David Robb (born 1947), British actor *

Douglas Robb (schoolmaster) Douglas Robert Kenneth Robb (born 3 September 1970) is an English schoolmaster who is currently headmaster of Gresham's School. Before that, he was a housemaster at Oundle School and then head of Oswestry School. Early life Born in the Wirral in 1 ...

(born 1970), British rugby player and headmaster *

Ed Robb Ed Robb (July 1, 1942 – September 24, 2011) was a member of the faculty at the University of Missouri, the president of a consulting firm, and a Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives. He resided in Columbia, Missouri, wit ...

(born 1942), American politician *

George Douglas Robb Sir George Douglas Robb (1899–1974) was a New Zealand surgeon, medical reformer, writer, and university chancellor. Career He was born at Auckland on 29 April 1899 and educated at the Auckland Grammar School and at the University of Otago (M ...

(1899–1974), New Zealand surgeon *

George Robb George Robb (1 June 1926 – 25 December 2011) was a footballer who played outside left for Tottenham Hotspur and England. Robb represented Great Britain at the 1952 Olympic Games. He also had a career as a schoolteacher. He died on Christmas D ...

(1926-2011) English football player * Graham Robb (born 1958), British author *

Ian Robb Ian Robb is an English-born folk singer and songwriter, currently based in Ottawa, Ontario. He was a founding member of Friends of Fiddler's Green, and a columnist for ''Sing Out!'' He is also a member of the Canadian folk trio Finest Kind. He ...

, English folk singer *

Isabel Hampton Robb Isabel Adams Hampton Robb (1859–1910) was an American nurse theorist, author, nursing school administrator and early leader. Hampton was the first Superintendent of Nurses at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, wrote several influential textbook ...

(1860–1910), American nursing theorist *

J. Hampden Robb James Hampden Robb (October 27, 1846 – January 21, 1911) was an American merchant and politician from New York. Life Robb was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 27, 1846. He was the son of James Robb, a New Orleans banker and avid ...

(1846–1911), New York politician *

James Robb (disambiguation) James Robb may refer to: * James Robb (politician) (1859–1929), Canadian politician *James Robb (RAF officer) (1895–1968), RAF commander *James Robb (philosopher) (1918–1993), professor of philosophy at Marquette University * Jim Robb (born 1 ...

, several people *

John Robb (disambiguation) John Robb may refer to: *John Robb (1862–1913), Scottish civil engineer *John Robb (author) (born 1962), American author, military analyst and entrepreneur *John Robb (civil engineer) (1834–1896), Ireland-born contractor and businessman in Austr ...

, several people *

Lynda Bird Johnson Robb Lynda Bird Johnson Robb (born March 19, 1944) is the elder daughter of the 36th U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. She served as chairwoman of the Board of Reading is Fundamental, the nation's largest childr ...

(born 1944), elder daughter of American president Lyndon Baines Johnson *

Mary Lee Robb Mary Lee Robb Cline (February 15, 1926, – August 28, 2006) was a radio actress during the 1940s and 1950s. Her name is sometimes seen as Marylee Robb. Early life Robb was born in Streator, Illinois, and lived much of her early life in Chica ...

(1926-2006), American actress *

Mervyn Robb Mervyn is a masculine given name and occasionally a surname which is of Old Welsh origin, with elements ''mer'', probably meaning "marrow", and ''myn'', meaning "eminent". Despite the misconception of the letter 'V' being an English spelling, thr ...

(born 1981) *

Muriel Robb Muriel Evelyn Robb (13 May 1878 – 12 February 1907) was an English female tennis player. She is best remembered for her ladies' singles title at the 1902 Wimbledon Championships. She also won the Irish and Scottish singles titles in 1901 and ...

(1878–1907), British tennis player *

Natalie J. Robb Natalie Joy Robb (born 3 December 1974) is a Scottish actress and singer. She played the roles of Trish McDonald in the Scottish Television soap opera ''Take the High Road'' (1990–1999) and Jude Carlyle in the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'' (2001� ...

(born 1974), Scottish actress *

Noël Robb Ruth Noël Robb (born Barrow on 25 December 1913 - January 2009) was a South African activist and member of the Black Sash. Biography Robb was born in Plymouth on 25 December 1913. Robb most often went by her middle name, Noël. She graduated f ...

(1913-2009), South African activist *

Paul Robb Paul Jason Robb is a synthesizer player, producer, songwriter and one of the founding members of the band Information Society. Biography Robb was a member of Information Society from its inception in the early 1980s until 1992 (after its thir ...

, musician * Peter Robb (disambiguation), several people *

R. C. Robb Robert Robb (20 February 1882 – 23 October 1941) was a British athlete. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. In the 400 metres, Robb lost his preliminary heat with a time of 52.5 seconds to winner Ned Merriam's 52.2 seconds. ...

, British athlete at the 1908 Summer Olympics *

Rafael Robb Rafael Robb (born October 31, 1950) is an economist and former professor at the University of Pennsylvania who confessed to killing his wife in 2006. Academic career Robb received his bachelor's degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. H ...

(born 1950), American economist *

Ralph Robb Ralph Robb (22 April 1800 – 5 July 1850) was a Scottish clergyman. He was born in Manor Peebles, a farm within Logie Parish, Perthshire, the ninth of ten children of former maltman and farmer William Rob (1749–1818), son of farmer John ...

(1800–1850), Scottish clergyman *

Richard Robb Richard Alexander Robb FRSE (1901–1977) was a Scottish mathematician, statistician and astronomer. A keen athlete, he won the Scottish 100m sprint and represented Great Britain in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam on the sprint team (but won n ...

FRSE (1901-1977) Scottish statistician and athlete in the 1928 Olympics *

Steven Robb Steven Robb (born 8 March 1982 in Perth, Scotland) is a Scottish retired footballer, who played as a left winger. He began his career with Dundee in 2001 before joining Dundee United and then St Mirren. After playing in Thailand for Thai P ...

(born 1982), Scottish footballer * Thomas Robb (born 1946), Ku Klux Klan director

References

{{surname, Robb English-language surnames Scottish surnames

People with the surname Robb

See also

References