Tobby
Of Germanic origin meaning "from a big family".
Name Census estimates that about 364 living Americans carry the first name Tobby. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tobby today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tobby births was 1977 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tobby. 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
364
~ 1 in 941,633 Americans
Peak year
1977
36 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2015 SSA rank
#13,850
Tracked since 1956
Popularity
Tobby: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tobby from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 233 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tobby 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 Tobby during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tobby
The name Tobby has its origins in the Hebrew language and can be traced back to the biblical period. It is a diminutive form of the name Tobiah, which means "Yahweh is good" or "God is good." The name Tobiah is found in the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament, where it refers to a Jewish leader who helped rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile.
Historically, the name Tobby was popular among Jewish communities, particularly in Eastern Europe. It was also used by some Christian families, especially in regions where Jewish and Christian cultures intersected. The earliest recorded instances of the name Tobby can be found in medieval records from the 13th and 14th centuries.
One notable figure who bore the name Tobby was Tobby Rosenthal, a German-Jewish philosopher and scholar who lived in the 16th century (c. 1517-1588). He was known for his contributions to the study of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism.
Another historical figure with the name Tobby was Tobby Lipschitz, a Polish-Jewish merchant and philanthropist who lived in the 17th century (c. 1620-1692). He was renowned for his charitable works and support for Jewish communities across Eastern Europe.
In the 18th century, there was Tobby Hirschfeld, a German-Jewish writer and poet (1704-1776). He was a prominent figure in the Haskalah, the Jewish Enlightenment movement, and his works helped shape the development of modern Hebrew literature.
Moving to the 19th century, we find Tobby Kramer, a Hungarian-Jewish journalist and political activist (1819-1888). He was a vocal advocate for Jewish emancipation and played a significant role in the struggle for equal rights in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Finally, in the early 20th century, there was Tobby Levinson, a Russian-Jewish artist and painter (1892-1962). He was known for his vibrant and expressive works, which often depicted scenes of everyday life in Jewish shtetls (villages) and cities.
People
Tobby + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tobby 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
Tobby: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tobby?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 364 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tobby 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 941,633 US residents.
Is Tobby a common name?
We classify Tobby as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 394 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tobby most popular?
The single biggest year for Tobby was 1977, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tobby is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tobby a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tobby 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.