Bobbe
A diminutive form of the feminine name Barbara, derived from Greek meaning "foreign, strange".
Name Census estimates that about 193 living Americans carry the first name Bobbe. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bobbe today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bobbe births was 1932 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bobbe. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Bobbe is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bobbes were born before 1962.
People living today
193
~ 1 in 1,775,929 Americans
Peak year
1932
26 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1994 SSA rank
#13,710
Tracked since 1912
Popularity
Bobbe: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bobbe from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 148 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bobbe by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bobbe during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bobbes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Illinois, Texas recorded the most babies named Bobbe, while Texas, Illinois, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bobbe
The name Bobbe is a variant of the English name Robert, which is derived from the Germanic name Hrodebert. Hrodebert is composed of the elements "hrod" meaning "fame" and "berht" meaning "bright". The name gained popularity during the medieval period when it was introduced to England by the Normans after their conquest in 1066.
Bobbe first emerged as a diminutive or nickname form of Robert in the Middle Ages. The earliest recorded use of the name Bobbe dates back to the 13th century in England. It was often used as an informal or affectionate variant of Robert, particularly among lower classes and in rural areas.
One notable early bearer of the name Bobbe was Sir Bobbe de Newbury, an English knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War during the 14th century. Another historical figure with this name was Bobbe Travaile, a renowned English explorer and traveler from the 16th century who documented his journeys to various parts of Europe and Asia.
In literature, the name Bobbe appears in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, written in the late 14th century. The character Bobbe is portrayed as a simple and honest miller in the tales.
During the Renaissance period, Bobbe remained a popular name among English commoners. One notable bearer from this time was Bobbe Smyth, a successful merchant and alderman in the city of London in the early 17th century.
Another historical figure named Bobbe was Bobbe Sheppard, an English folk hero and legendary outlaw from the 18th century. He was known for his daring exploits and was romanticized in ballads and stories of the time.
While the name Bobbe has largely fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it continues to be used as a nickname or diminutive form of Robert in some English-speaking communities, particularly in rural areas or among older generations.
People
Bobbe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bobbe as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bobbe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bobbe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 193 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bobbe going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,775,929 US residents.
Is Bobbe a common name?
We classify Bobbe as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 567 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bobbe most popular?
The single biggest year for Bobbe was 1932, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bobbe is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Bobbe a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bobbe in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.