Joby
Masculine · “Unknown”
Joby is given to both — 1,174 boys and 68 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
The patience of Job is not in the book. He complains for thirty chapters, accuses God of persecuting him, demands a hearing, and refuses every explanation his friends offer; the patience belongs to a single line in a much later letter, and it has been attached to the wrong text ever since.
How old is the name Joby?
Joby first appears in US birth records in 1939 — 86 years ago. The typical Joby alive today was born around 1982, making them about 43 years old. About 1,100 people named Joby are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Joby most popular?
Joby peaked in 1972, reaching #1473 nationally. See the whole 1972 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Iyyob to Joby
The story of Joby
When the answer finally comes, it is not an answer. God speaks out of a whirlwind and does not address the question at all: instead there are four chapters about the natural world, about where the light comes from, whether anybody has been to the storehouses of the snow, who cuts a channel for the rain in a desert where nobody lives, how the wild goat gives birth, why the ostrich is stupid and the horse is brave, and what it takes to catch a crocodile. It is the best poetry in the Bible and it changes the subject entirely. Job says he had heard of God by hearing and now his eye sees, and stops asking. Readers have been arguing about whether that counts for two and a half thousand years.
Meaningnot established
Unknown
The Hebrew name has no agreed derivation. Suggestions include a word for an enemy and an Arabic root about returning or repenting, and neither is convincing. The book itself is set outside Israel and the name may not be Hebrew at all, which would explain why nobody can read it.
How the name formed
- Iyyob
- Job
- Joby
Related forms: Iyyov · Ayyub
Pronouncing Joby
JOH-bee
Two syllables with the stress at the front and a long first vowel, since a single consonant between vowels leaves it long. The full name rhymes with robe and not with rob, which is worth stating because the English word spelled the same way does not.
Nicknames for Joby
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
- 1939
- Most boys named
- 197737 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1473reached in 1972
- Change vs 2023
- +42.9%10 in 2024, from 7
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.
Joby in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Iyyov in Hebrew — transliteration
- Ayyub in Arabic — same name
Jobys among us
people named Joby 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
Joby 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
- Short, warm and easy for a child to say, with a very serious name behind it.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- The book it comes from is one of the greatest things written in any language.
- The record carries it for girls as well as boys, so it signals nothing on a form.
- The full name is spelled identically to an ordinary English word said differently.
- The story attached is one of suffering, and a child who looks it up will find that.
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What they receive
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Joby
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Jobys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Joby are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Joby in 2025?
- Joby is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Joby with classmates?
- Joby will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More J names
The most-given names starting with J, all years combined.
James#6 · John#23 · Joseph#29 · Joshua#66 · Jason#165 · Jacob#43 · Jeffrey#552 · Jonathan#89
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Joby? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Joby and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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