Tovias
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "good is the Lord".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Tovias. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tovias today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tovias births was 1996 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tovias. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Tovias. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1996
5 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
1996 SSA rank
#10,416
Tracked since 1996
Popularity
Tovias: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Tovias 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 Tovias during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Tovias
The name Tovias is derived from the Hebrew name Tobiah, which means "God is good" or "Goodness of God." This name has its roots in ancient Semitic languages and cultures.
The earliest recorded mention of the name Tobiah is in the Old Testament of the Bible, where it refers to a Levite and a companion of Ezra, who helped rebuild Jerusalem's walls after the Babylonian exile. The Book of Tobit, part of the Apocrypha, also features a character named Tobiah or Tobit.
In the 4th century BCE, a Jewish scholar named Tobiah ben Eleazar is mentioned in ancient texts as a disciple of the famous Rabbi Hillel. Around the same time, Tobiah ben Khenumahu was a prominent Jewish leader in Jerusalem during the Persian period.
During the Middle Ages, the name Tovias was used by several notable figures, including Tovias ben Eliezer, a 12th-century Jewish scholar and poet from Byzantium. In the 14th century, Tovias ben Joseph Abulafia was a prominent Spanish Jewish philosopher and Kabbalist.
In the 16th century, Tovias Cohen was a influential rabbi and scholar in the Ottoman Empire. Another notable bearer of the name was Tovias Cohn (1654-1729), a German Jewish author and playwright.
Throughout history, the name Tovias has been used across various cultures and regions, reflecting its ancient Hebrew origins and its association with religious and scholarly figures. While it may not be as common today as it once was, the name Tovias continues to carry a rich historical legacy.
People
Tovias + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tovias 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
Tovias: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tovias?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tovias 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Tovias a common name?
We classify Tovias as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tovias most popular?
The single biggest year for Tovias was 1996, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tovias is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Tovias in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tovias a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tovias 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 Tovias still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tovias 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 Tovias 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Tovias?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.