Where does “Dobbins” come from?

Dobbins is the plural of Dobbin, a diminutive of the personal name Dobb, itself a shortened form of Robert, derived from Anglo-Norman Robert.

Ancestry of “Dobbins”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishDobbinA pet name given to workhorses, and by extension, a placeholder name used for any workhorse, much like John Q. Public and other such placeholders are used for people
2EnglishDobb—
3EnglishRobert—
4Anglo-NormanRobert—
Every word from Anglo-Norman Robert →Every word from English Robert →Every word from English Dobb →