Bob
Masculine · “bright fame”
Bob is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 92,986 boys against 322 girls since 1880.
Bob is not a shortening of Robert — it is a rhyme on one. English clipped Robert to Rob and then, for reasons no one has fully explained, swapped the opening consonant, which is the same trick that produced Bill from Will and Peg from Meg.
How old is the name Bob?
Bob was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Bob alive today was born around 1942, making them about 83 years old. About 39,000 people named Bob are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bob most popular?
Bob peaked in 1934, reaching #75 nationally. Today it ranks #9714, 9,639 places below that high. See the whole 1934 chart.
Where it comes from
From Hrodberht to Bob
The story of Bob
Robert was a Frankish and then a Norman royal name, and it arrived in England in 1066 to become one of the three or four commonest men's names in the country. Names that common get worn down, and medieval English wore this one down twice: first by clipping, to Rob, and then by rhyming substitution, to Bob and Hob and Dob. Only Bob survived in general use. Nineteenth and twentieth-century American families began registering it as the legal name, and it stood in the top eighty for boys in the 1930s.
Meaning
bright fame
Through Robert, from the Germanic hrod, 'fame', and beraht, 'bright'. Both elements were extremely productive: hrod also gives Roger and Roland, beraht gives Albert, Herbert and Bertha. The compound is transparent and undisputed.
How the name formed
- Hrodberht
- Robert
- Rob
- Bob
Related forms: Robert · Roberto · Roberto · Robert
Pronouncing Bob
BOB
One syllable. It is also a palindrome, which is unusual for a name and completely irrelevant to how it is said.
Nicknames for Bob
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 19592,826 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #75reached in 1934
- Change vs 2022
- +40.0%7 in 2025, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Bob in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Robert in German — same name
- Roberto in Italian — related form
- Roberto in Spanish — related form
- Robert in French — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Bobs among us
people named Bob are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 244,011 born in 2025 was named Bob
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Johnnie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Bob's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Johnnie climbed just as high around 1910, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Johnnie's path sketches the road Bob is walking now.
Bob sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Bob beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Bob in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Robert stands behind it as one of the most-used men's names in European history.
- Three letters, one syllable, and unmistakable in any accent or over any phone line.
- The rhyming-nickname history behind it is a real curiosity of the English language.
- It is also an ordinary English verb and noun, with several unrelated meanings.
- Given outright it stays informal; Robert on the certificate keeps both registers available.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Bob to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Bob? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Bob
Masculine · #9714 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Bobs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 39,000 people named Bob are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bob in 2025?
- Bob ranks #9714 among US boy names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Bob?
- About 1 in every 244,011 US boys born in 2025 was named Bob — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Bob with classmates?
- Bob will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Bob
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Abrahm#9714 · Sid#9714 · Hartwell#9714 · Kwan#9714 · Adrean#9714 · Chancey#9714 · Rob#9714 · Vern#9714
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bob? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Bob and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle