Hobert
Variant of a Germanic name meaning "bright mind" or "brilliant spirit".
Name Census estimates that about 1,650 living Americans carry the first name Hobert. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hobert today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hobert births was 1922 (185 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hobert. 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 Hobert is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Hoberts were born before 1965.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 207,730 Americans
Peak year
1922
185 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
2001 SSA rank
#11,216
Tracked since 1893
Popularity
Hobert: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hobert from the 1890s through to the 2000s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,523 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hobert 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 Hobert during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hoberts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia recorded the most babies named Hobert, while Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 232 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hobert
The name Hobert is believed to have its origins in the Germanic languages, derived from the Old High German word "hoh" meaning "high" or "lofty," and the suffix "-bert," which is derived from the Germanic word "beraht," meaning "bright" or "illustrious." This combination suggests that the name Hobert may have initially been given to individuals who were regarded as having an elevated or distinguished status.
The earliest known references to the name Hobert can be traced back to the 9th century, where it appears in various medieval records and chronicles. One notable mention is in the Annals of Fulda, a historical record compiled by monks in the Benedictine monastery of Fulda, located in present-day Germany. This document mentions a nobleman named Hobert who was involved in a dispute over land ownership in the year 837 AD.
In the 11th century, the name Hobert gained further prominence with the rise of the Normans in England. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Hobert de Beaumont, a Norman nobleman who accompanied William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. De Beaumont went on to become the 1st Earl of Leicester and played a significant role in the establishment of Norman rule in England.
Another notable figure with the name Hobert was Hobert Guiscard, a Norman adventurer and military leader who lived from around 1015 to 1085. Guiscard means "the Resourceful" or "the Cunning" in French, and he earned this epithet for his military prowess and successful campaigns in southern Italy and Sicily. He is credited with establishing the Norman Kingdom of Sicily and is considered one of the most influential Norman rulers of his time.
In the 13th century, a French nobleman named Hobert III, Count of Artois, played a significant role in the Eighth Crusade. He was born in 1216 and died in 1285 during the Crusade, where he fought alongside King Louis IX of France.
The name Hobert also has ties to religious history, with one of the most notable figures being Hobert of Molesme, a French Benedictine monk who lived from around 1028 to 1111. He was a reformer and co-founder of the Cistercian Order, a monastic order that played a crucial role in the religious and cultural life of medieval Europe.
While the name Hobert was more prevalent in earlier centuries, it has become less common in modern times, although it continues to be used in various forms and spellings across different cultures and regions.
People
Hobert + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hobert as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hobert: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hobert?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,650 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hobert 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 207,730 US residents.
Is Hobert a common name?
We classify Hobert as "Rare". It ranks above 92.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,724 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hobert most popular?
The single biggest year for Hobert was 1922, when 185 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hobert is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Hobert a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hobert in the SSA data are male. 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.