Robert: English, Scottish, and French (also Scandinavian): one of the many French names of Germanic origin that were introduced into Britain by the Normans. This one is composed of the nearly synonymous elements hrod fame + berht bright, famous. It had a native Old English predecessor of similar form (Hreodbeorht), which was supplanted by the Norman name. It was the name of two dukes of Normandy in the 11th century: the father of William the Conqueror (sometimes identified with the legendary Robert the Devil), and his eldest son. It was borne by three kings of Scotland, notably Robert the Bruce (1274–1329), who freed Scotland from English domination. The altered short form Bob is very common, but Hob and Dob, which were common in the Middle Ages and gave rise to surnames, are extinct.
David: Biblical: name of the greatest of the Israelite kings, whose history is recounted in 1 Samuel and elsewhere. As a boy he killed the giant Philistine, Goliath, with his slingshot; as king of Judah, and later of all Israel, he expanded the power of the Israelites and established their security. He was also noted as a poet, with many of the Psalms being attributed to him. He had many sons and, according to the gospels, Jesus was descended from him. The Hebrew derivation of the name is uncertain; it is said by some to represent a nursery word meaning “darling”. In America this is mainly a Jewish name, but it has no such weighting in Britain, where it is particularly common in Wales and Scotland, having been borne by the patron saint of Wales (see Dewi) and by two medieval kings of Scotland. Cognates: Scottish Gaelic: Dŕibhidh. Irish Gaelic: Dáibhídh. Welsh: Dafydd, Dewi. Polish: Dawid. Finnish: Taavi
Noble:
1. English, Scottish, and Irish (of Norman origin); also French: nickname from Middle English, Old French noble ‘high-born’, ‘distinguished’, ‘illustrious’ (Latin nobilis), denoting someone of lofty birth or character, or perhaps also ironically someone of low station. The surname has been established in Ireland since the 13th century, but was re-introduced in the 17th century and is now found mainly in Ulster.
2. Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized form of Knöbel, a surname derived from an archaic German word for a servant. This was the name of a famous rabbinical family which moved from Wiener Neustadt to Sanok in Galicia in the 17th century; several members subsequently emigrated to the U.S.
Jewish: Americanized form of Nobel.
German: probably a Huguenot name (see 1).
Possibly an altered form of German Knobel or Nobel.
Breinholt: German: from a rare Germanic personal name Brin(no), probably composed of elements related to Middle High German brünne ‘armor’ + walt ‘rule’.
Iversen: Danish and Norwegian: patronymic from the personal name Ivar, from Old Norse Ívarr, a compound of either ív ‘yew tree’, ‘bow’ or Ing (the name of a god) + ar ‘warrior’ or ‘spear’.
North German (Frisian): patronymic from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements iwa ‘yew (tree)’ + hard ‘strong’, ‘firm’.
Kyle: English: transferred use of a Scottish surname, which originated as a local name from the region so called in the former county of Ayrshire. Kyle is a topographic term referring to a narrow strait or channel, from Gaelic caol narrow.
Rudd:
1. English: nickname for a person with red hair or a ruddy complexion, from Middle English rudde, Old English rud ‘red’, ‘ruddy’.
2. Americanized shortened form of any of various Jewish surnames beginning with Rud-.






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