Robinson surname meaning

Robinson means "son of Robin." Medieval Robin was the familiar pet form of Robert, so Robinson sits next to Roberts and Robertson in the parent's-name family—same given-name root, different nickname path into a hereditary surname.

Robert itself is Germanic ("fame" + "bright"), but families need the short gloss: Robin’s son. The spelling is overwhelmingly English in origin; US records sometimes show Robison without the middle n. Unrelated lines can share the spelling without one shared ancestor. The short family gloss is what matters for this catalog.