Hobart
Masculine · “bright mind”
Hobart is Hubert after English has been at it. The medieval spoken form of Hubert was Hobart, that pronunciation became a surname, and the surname came back round as a given name — with a city in Tasmania picking it up along the way.
How old is the name Hobart?
Hobart first appears in US birth records in 1885 — 140 years ago. The typical Hobart alive today was born around 1927, making them about 98 years old. About 800 people named Hobart are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hobart most popular?
Hobart peaked in 1896, reaching #128 nationally. See the whole 1896 chart.
Where it comes from
From Hugubert to Hobart
The story of Hobart
Hubert was a Frankish name carried by a bishop of Liège who became the patron saint of hunters, and the Normans brought it to England. Medieval English said it as Hobart or Hobbard, which is how the surname arose. The Tasmanian capital was named in 1804 for a British colonial secretary of that surname, and American families used it as a given name through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, peaking around 1928.
Meaning
bright mind
Through Hubert, from the Germanic hug, 'heart' or 'mind', and beraht, 'bright'. The beraht element is one of the most productive in Germanic naming, giving Albert, Robert, Herbert and Bertha; hug survives in Hugh and Hugo.
How the name formed
- Hugubert
- Hubert
- Hobart
Related forms: Hubert · Hubert · Huibert
Pronouncing Hobart
HOH-bart
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Tasmanian city is said the same way.
Nicknames for Hobart
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
- 1885
- Most boys named
- 1918133 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #128reached in 1896
- Change vs 1997
- −16.7%5 in 2023, from 6
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.
Hobart in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Hubert in French — related form
- Hubert in German — related form
- Huibert in Dutch — related form
Hobarts among us
people named Hobart 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
Hobart has already lived its whole cycle: it rose, had its era, and has stepped off the charts. The fashion question is behind it — what lies ahead is the waiting room where revivals begin, once a name's first generation has grown distant enough for it to sound fresh again.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Hubert stands behind it as a documented Frankish name with a clear meaning.
- Two firm syllables that carry well and pair with almost any surname.
- Hobie and Bart are both available and are quite different in register.
- The Australian city is the first association for many people.
- It is a distinctly nineteenth-century American choice and reads that way.
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Hobart
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Hobarts are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Hobart are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Hobart in 2025?
- Hobart is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Hobart with classmates?
- Hobart will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More H names
The most-given names starting with H, all years combined.
Henry#5 · Harold#991 · Harry#775 · Howard#1002 · Hunter#130 · Herbert#2641 · Herman#2363 · Harvey#251
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hobart? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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