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The surnameRoberts

A patronymic surname, the 50th most common in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex R163

Roberts: #50 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Roberts #50, 376,774 people Roberts: #50 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#1,000Archer Roberts #50, 376,774 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Roberts is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

From Robert + -s.

Roberts is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 376,774 people named Roberts in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 819 Americans. That is up 2.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 366,215.

#50
rank among US surnames
376,774
people in 2010
128
per 100,000 Americans
+2.9%
change since 2000 (was #45)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#41Green430,182718
#42Adams427,865722
#43Nelson424,958727
#44Baker419,586736
#45Hall407,076758
#46Rivera391,114789
#47Campbell386,157800

Who is named Roberts

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

77% of people named Roberts identified as white (not Hispanic), 17% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

  • White (not Hispanic) 77%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 17%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
  • Two or more races 2.1%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Robertss

115 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • Julia Roberts
    American actress (born 1967)
  • Eric Roberts
    American actor (born 1956)
  • Nora Roberts
    American romance writer, born 1950
  • Tanya Roberts
    American actress (1949–2021)
  • Doris Roberts
    American actress (1925–2016)
  • Rachel Roberts
    British actress (1927-1980)
  • Virginia Roberts Giuffre
    Advocate for sex trafficking victims (1983–2025)
  • Jake Roberts
    American professional wrestler, born 1955
  • Ashley Roberts
    American singer, dancer and television personality, born 1981
  • John Roberts
    American actor and comedian, born 1971
  • Leonard Roberts
    American actor, born 1972
  • Ed Roberts
    American engineer, entrepreneur and medical doctor (1941–2010)

Notable Robertss come mostly from the United States (95), Australia (9) and the United Kingdom (5).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Surnames that sound like Roberts

Roberts has the Soundex code R163, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R163.

Questions

Where does the surname Roberts come from?
From Robert + -s.
How common is the surname Roberts?
376,774 people in the United States had the surname Roberts in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 819 Americans. It ranked 50th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Roberts?
In the 2010 Census, 77% of people named Roberts identified as white (not Hispanic), and 17% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Roberts?
Julia Roberts, American actress (born 1967), followed by Eric Roberts.