Toba
From Japanese origin meaning "abundant" or "bountiful".
Name Census estimates that about 395 living Americans carry the first name Toba. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Toba today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Toba births was 2024 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Toba. 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.
People living today
395
~ 1 in 867,733 Americans
Peak year
2024
19 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,349
Tracked since 1918
Popularity
Toba: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Toba from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 136 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Toba remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Toba 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 Toba during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tobas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Toba
The name Toba is believed to have originated from the Algonquian language, spoken by various Native American tribes in North America. It is thought to be derived from the word "tobacco," which was introduced to Europe by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. The name Toba may have been given to individuals who were involved in the cultivation or trade of tobacco.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Toba can be found in the writings of French explorer and colonist Samuel de Champlain, who documented his interactions with the Abenaki tribe in the early 17th century. He mentioned a chief named Toba, who was likely named after the plant.
In the 19th century, the name Toba became associated with a group of indigenous people living in the Chaco region of Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia. The Toba people, also known as the Qom, are part of the Guaycuruan linguistic family. It is possible that the name was adopted by European settlers in the region, or that it was derived from the Toba people's own language.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Toba was Toba Inlet, a 19th-century Toba Indigenous leader and warrior from British Columbia, Canada. He played a significant role in the Chilcotin War of 1864, a conflict between the Tsilhqot'in people and the British colonial authorities.
Another notable figure with the name Toba was Toba Heitor Xavier (1914-1981), a Brazilian artist and sculptor. He was known for his abstract and modernist works and was a prominent figure in the Brazilian art scene of the 20th century.
In the field of literature, Toba Beta (1932-2011) was a notable Romanian writer and journalist. She wrote several novels and short story collections, exploring themes of identity, memory, and the human condition. Her works were widely acclaimed and translated into multiple languages.
Toba Khedoori (born 1964) is a contemporary Iraqi-Australian artist known for her large-scale sculptural installations and drawings. Her works have been exhibited in major museums and galleries around the world, and she has received numerous awards and accolades for her artistic contributions.
Toba Tek Singh was the name of a short story by renowned Indian writer Saadat Hasan Manto (1912-1955). The story, set during the Partition of India in 1947, explores themes of identity, displacement, and the human cost of political upheaval. It is considered one of Manto's most significant works and a masterpiece of Urdu literature.
People
Toba + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Toba as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Toba: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Toba?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 395 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Toba 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 867,733 US residents.
Is Toba a common name?
We classify Toba as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 436 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Toba most popular?
The single biggest year for Toba was 2024, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Toba is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Toba a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Toba 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.