Bobbye
Feminine · “bright fame”
Bobbye is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 3,172 girls against 97 boys since 1880.
Bob did not come from Robert by cutting. Rob came from Robert by cutting; Bob came from Rob by rhyme, in the same way that Dick came from Rick and Peggy from Meggy. Medieval English made nicknames by swapping the first consonant, and several of the results are still in daily use.
How old is the name Bobbye?
Bobbye first appears in US birth records in 1911 — 114 years ago. The typical Bobbye alive today was born around 1937, making them about 88 years old. About 1,300 people named Bobbye are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bobbye most popular?
Bobbye peaked in 1931, reaching #530 nationally. See the whole 1931 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Robert to Bobbye
The story of Bobbye
The rhyming habit is medieval and it was productive: Richard gave Rick and then Dick, Roger gave Hodge, Margaret gave Meg and then Peg, Robert gave Rob and then Bob. Nobody knows exactly why English did this and no other European language did it in the same way. Bobbye is that nickname three steps further on — the rhymed form, given an affectionate ending, and then marked as a woman's name with a final e in the southern American manner. It served Roberta, Barbara and Bobbie alike, which is why the record shows it for both sexes.
Meaning
bright fame
Robert joins two Germanic elements meaning fame and bright. The nickname carries the meaning at two removes, having changed a consonant that the original did not have.
How the name formed
- Robert
- Rob
- Bob
- Bobbye
Pronouncing Bobbye
BOB-ee
Two syllables with the weight at the front. The final e is silent, so all the spellings in this family are said identically.
Nicknames for Bobbye
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
- 1911
- Most girls named
- 1934139 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #530reached in 1931
- Change vs 1995
- +40.0%7 in 1998, 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.
Bobbyes among us
people named Bobbye are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Bobbye sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is said correctly by everyone on first hearing.
- It works for several longer names at once, which gives a family options.
- The spelling identifies it as a woman's name on paper, which the plain form does not.
- Bobbie and Bobby are the standard spellings and will be written instead.
- The spelling is recorded for boys as well as girls in the United States.
- It belongs firmly to the first half of the twentieth century.
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What they receive
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Bobbye
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Bobbyes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Bobbye are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bobbye in 2025?
- Bobbye is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Bobbye with classmates?
- Bobbye will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Barbara#968 · Betty#1113 · Brenda#1525 · Beverly#1016 · Brittany#928 · Bonnie#396 · Brianna#222 · Bertha#4546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bobbye? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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