Bobby
Masculine · “bright fame”
Bobby is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 315,053 boys against 9,675 girls since 1880. See Bobby as a girl name
Bobby is the affectionate end of Robert, a name the Normans carried into England in the eleventh century and that has been shortened, re-shortened and softened ever since. Two syllables, both open and easy, the kind of name that fits a shout across a yard. It has been in steady American use for well over a century, and it still charts in England and Wales.
How old is the name Bobby?
Bobby first appears in US birth records in 1900 — 125 years ago. The typical Bobby alive today was born around 1953, making them about 72 years old. About 187,000 people named Bobby are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bobby most popular?
Bobby peaked in 1934, reaching #23 nationally. Today it ranks #1097, 1,074 places below that high. See the whole 1934 chart.
Where it comes from
From Hrodebert to Bobby
The story of Bobby
Robert began as the Germanic Hrodebert and arrived in England with the Norman conquest, quickly becoming one of the most-used men's names in the country. Medieval English speakers loved to make pet names by swapping the opening consonant — the same habit that turned Richard into Dick and William into Bill turned Rob into Bob. Adding the friendly -y ending gave Bobby, which crossed the Atlantic already fully formed and settled into American use in its own right. In Britain, a police officer is still called a bobby, after Sir Robert Peel, who founded the Metropolitan Police in 1829.
Meaning
bright fame
Bobby is a pet form of Robert, which comes from the Germanic elements hrod, 'fame', and beraht, 'bright'. The meaning belongs to the parent name.
How the name formed
- Hrodebert
- Robert
- Rob
- Bob
- Bobby
Related forms: Bobbie · Robbie · Roberto · Roberto · Robert · Rupert
Pronouncing Bobby
BOB-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Spelled exactly as it sounds, in English-speaking countries and beyond.
Nicknames for Bobby
High
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
- 1900
- Most boys named
- 19357,726 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #23reached in 1934
- Change vs 2023
- +15.4%195 in 2025, from 169
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.
Bobby in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bobbie in English — spelling variant
- Robbie in English — related form
- Roberto in Spanish — related form
- Roberto in Italian — related form
- Robert in French — related form
- Rupert in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida. International figures from Office for National Statistics. Sources
Bobbys among us
people named Bobby are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 8,759 born in 2025 was named Bobby
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 Howard test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Bobby's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Howard climbed just as high around 1919, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Howard's path sketches the road Bobby is walking now.
Bobby 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
Where Bobby is headed
Bobby should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Bobby beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Bobby in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelling and sound match perfectly — almost no one will need it repeated or corrected.
- Has a full formal name behind it, Robert, if you want a longer option on paper.
- A documented line running back to Norman England, with relatives in Spanish, Italian, French and German.
- Recognized everywhere in the English-speaking world, and still on the charts in England and Wales.
- Currently uncommon enough that a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate.
- Most Bobbys alive in the US today are well into later life, so the name reads as belonging to older generations for many people. That gap is exactly what makes names come back around, but it is real right now.
- It is a diminutive standing on its own. Some parents register Robert and use Bobby daily; others put Bobby on the certificate and accept that it stays informal in tone for life.
- In British English, bobby is everyday slang for a police officer, and bobby pins and bobby socks keep the word in circulation as a common noun.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Bobby
Masculine · #1097 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Bobbys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 187,000 people named Bobby are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bobby in 2025?
- Bobby ranks #1097 among US boy names in 2025, with 195 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Bobby?
- About 1 in every 8,759 US boys born in 2025 was named Bobby — 195 in all.
- Will my child share the name Bobby with classmates?
- Bobby will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Bobby
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dayton#1097 · Brendan#1097 · Dimitri#1097 · Mael#1097 · Kit#1097 · Turner#1097 · Rami#1097 · Marlon#1097
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bobby? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Bobby and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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