Page "Robin Hood" Paragraph 54

There are a number of theories that attempt to identify a historical Robin Hood.

A difficulty with any such historical search is that " Robert " was in medieval England a very common given name, and " Robin " ( or Robyn ), especially in the 13th century, was its very common diminutive.

The surname " Hood " ( or Hude or Hode etc.

), referring ultimately to the head-covering, was also fairly common.

Unsurprisingly, therefore, there are a number of people called " Robert Hood " or " Robin Hood " to be found in medieval records.

Some of them are on record for having fallen afoul of the law, but this is not necessarily significant to the legend.