Rob
A masculine diminutive of the name Robert, which means "bright fame".
Name Census estimates that about 7,175 living Americans carry the first name Rob. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rob today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rob births was 1963 (555 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rob. 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 Rob with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
7.2K
~ 1 in 47,771 Americans
Peak year
1963
555 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,009
Tracked since 1884
Census
Rob in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 30,144 people with the first name Rob, which placed it at #1,249 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
#1,249
National first-name rank
People counted
30K
30,144 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
10.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rob
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rob is White at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.4%) and Black (4.5%). 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 Rob 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 Rob at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.1% · 25,644
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 1,635
- Black or African American4.5% · 1,359
- Two or more races2.5% · 742
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 580
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 184
Popularity
Rob: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rob from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 4,160 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rob 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 Rob during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Robs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. California, Ohio, Michigan recorded the most babies named Rob, while South Carolina, North Dakota, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 144 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rob
The given name Rob is a diminutive form of the name Robert, which has its origins in the Germanic languages. Robert is derived from the Old High German name Hruodberht, which is composed of the elements hruod ("fame" or "glory") and berht ("bright" or "shining"). This name became popular in medieval Europe through the veneration of St. Robert, the founder of the Cistercian order.
The name Robert can be traced back to the 8th century, when it was first recorded as the name of a Frankish nobleman. It gained widespread popularity in the Christian world due to its association with several saints and religious figures, including St. Robert of Molesme (1028-1111), the founder of the Cistercian order, and St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621), a Jesuit scholar and cardinal.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Rob as a diminutive form of Robert dates back to the 13th century in England. Over time, Rob became a common nickname for Robert, and it eventually evolved into a standalone given name.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Rob or its variants. Here are five examples:
1. Rob Roy MacGregor (1671-1734), a Scottish folk hero and outlaw who was renowned for his cattle rustling and resistance against the English.
2. Rob Halford (born 1951), the lead singer of the iconic heavy metal band Judas Priest, known for his powerful vocals and theatrical stage presence.
3. Rob Reiner (born 1947), an American actor, director, and producer, best known for his roles in the sitcom "All in the Family" and for directing films such as "When Harry Met Sally" and "The Princess Bride."
4. Rob Zombie (born 1965), an American musician, filmmaker, and former founder of the heavy metal band White Zombie, known for his fusion of horror and industrial metal genres.
5. Rob Lowe (born 1964), an American actor and producer, famous for his roles in films such as "The Outsiders," "St. Elmo's Fire," and the TV series "The West Wing."
The name Rob has a rich history, originating from the Germanic roots and evolving into a popular diminutive form of Robert over the centuries. Its association with saints, religious figures, and various notable individuals across different fields has contributed to its enduring popularity and cultural significance.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Rob
People
Rob + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rob as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rob: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rob?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,175 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rob 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 47,771 US residents.
Is Rob a common name?
We classify Rob as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,768 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rob most popular?
The single biggest year for Rob was 1963, when 555 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rob is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rob in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 30,144 people with the name Rob, or 9.98 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,249 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 Rob 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 Rob?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rob appears almost entirely male. Of the 30,144 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Rob?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rob is White at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.4%) and Black (4.5%). 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 Rob most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rob in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.1% (25,644 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 Rob in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rob a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rob 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 Rob still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rob 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 Rob 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 people have the name Rob?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Rob on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.