Roberts
Strong in the north — the patronymic of Robert, second to Williams in Caernarfonshire.
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CoreHistoric reach
The seat of Roberts
Seat vacantChief
No chief yet. The seat awaits its first claimant — be the first to stake your name to Roberts.
Current mission
No mission proclaimed. The chief, once seated, sets the clan’s public focus — a campaign, a contest, a piece of restoration, a year of remembrance.
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Stake your name →What does the Roberts name mean?
Son of Robert. The Welsh patronymic 'ap Robert' compressed into Roberts under the Tudor administration. Robert itself was a Norman import, embedded in north Wales particularly through the marcher lordship of Bromfield and Yale (now Wrexham).
The history of Roberts
Roberts is among the most common Welsh surnames, with a clear north-Welsh centre of gravity. Caernarfonshire, Anglesey and Denbighshire carry the highest density — quarry country, slate country, and the Welsh-Methodist heartland of the 18th- and 19th-century revivals.
Bartholomew Roberts of Pembrokeshire — 'Black Bart' (1682–1722) — was the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy, taking some four hundred prizes between 1719 and 1722. He was killed at sea off Cape Lopez by a Royal Navy broadside; his crew, hanged at Cape Coast, were the largest single body of pirates executed in one place at one time.
Kate Roberts of Rhosgadfan (1891–1985) — 'Brenhines ein Llên', the Queen of our Literature — was the most consequential Welsh-language novelist of the 20th century, writing the slate-country interior life of Caernarfonshire into modern Welsh fiction.
Notable bearers of the Roberts name
- Bartholomew 'Black Bart' Roberts (1682–1722) — pirate
- Kate Roberts (1891–1985) — Welsh-language novelist
Frequently asked
What does the surname Roberts mean?
Where does the Roberts family come from?
Who are some famous Robertses?
Neighbouring clans
- WilliamsSon of William — second only to Jones in Welsh density, and first in the north.
- HughesSon of Huw — the patronymic that runs strongest along the Anglesey coast.
- OwenThe princely name — Owain in Welsh, the surname of the last revolt and the first Tudor.
- Pritchardap Richard — the contraction is the mechanism, written into the name.