Kobey
An English diminutive form of Jacob, meaning "holder of the heel" or "supplanter".
Name Census estimates that about 589 living Americans carry the first name Kobey. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kobey today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kobey births was 2002 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kobey. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kobey with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
589
~ 1 in 581,926 Americans
Peak year
2002
65 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,423
Tracked since 1988
Census
Kobey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 570 people with the first name Kobey, which placed it at #18,805 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#18,805
National first-name rank
People counted
570
570 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kobey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kobey is White at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and Two or More Races (9.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kobey described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kobey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.8% · 335
- Black or African American16.5% · 94
- Two or more races9.8% · 56
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 48
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 13
Popularity
Kobey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kobey from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 337 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kobey 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 Kobey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kobeys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, California recorded the most babies named Kobey, while Utah, California, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kobey
The name Kobey finds its origins in the Japanese language, with its roots traced back to the late 16th century. The name is a combination of the Japanese words "ko," meaning "small" or "child," and "bei," which translates to "beautiful" or "graceful." This combination creates a name that embodies the idea of a beautiful or graceful child.
While the name Kobey is not widely documented in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been used by Japanese families, particularly those with aristocratic or samurai backgrounds, as a way to express their hopes and aspirations for their children.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kobey can be found in the Edo period (1603-1868) of Japanese history. During this time, a renowned calligrapher and artist named Kobey Toshimitsu (1583-1638) gained recognition for his exceptional skills and contributions to the arts.
Another notable figure bearing the name Kobey was Kobey Maresuke (1655-1715), a skilled swordsmith who lived during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. His katanas (Japanese swords) were highly prized for their exceptional craftsmanship and beauty.
In the 19th century, Kobey Akira (1831-1892) was a prominent Japanese scholar and educator who played a pivotal role in the modernization of Japan's education system during the Meiji Restoration.
During the early 20th century, Kobey Kaoru (1901-1975) was a celebrated Japanese novelist and poet whose works explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition. Her poetic prose and lyrical writing style garnered critical acclaim and influenced generations of writers.
More recently, Kobey Tatsuhiro (1932-2018) was a respected Japanese businessman and philanthropist who made significant contributions to various charitable organizations and initiatives focused on education and social welfare.
While these are just a few examples, the name Kobey has been carried by individuals from various walks of life throughout Japanese history, each leaving their mark and contributing to the rich cultural tapestry of the nation.
People
Kobey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kobey as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kobey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kobey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 589 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kobey 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 581,926 US residents.
Is Kobey a common name?
We classify Kobey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 597 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kobey most popular?
The single biggest year for Kobey was 2002, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kobey is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kobey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 570 people with the name Kobey, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,805 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kobey in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kobey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kobey leans strongly male. 534 people counted with this name were male (94.5%), compared with 31 female bearers (5.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kobey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kobey is White at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and Two or More Races (9.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kobey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kobey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.8% (335 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kobey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kobey a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kobey 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.
Is Kobey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kobey in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kobey can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many Americans are named Kobey?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.