Robinson

Northern English: patronymic from the personal name Robin.

FOREBEARS: One of the most famous bearers of this widespread northern English name was the Puritan preacher John Robinson (c.1575-1625) of Sturton, Nottinghamshire, England. In 1604 he was removed from his fellowship of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, for his religious views. He was the leader of the group of English Puritans who fled to Leiden in the Netherlands in 1608-9, among whom were many of the Pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. His son Isaac came to Plymouth, MA, in 1631, and eventually settled in Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard, in about 1670.

See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.