Kobi
Feminine · “heel-holder”
Kobi is given to both — 1,147 girls and 1,971 boys since 1880. See Kobi as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Kobi is the Hebrew affectionate form of Yaakov — Jacob — and it is also a Japanese city, an American basketball player's first name, and a modern coinage. All four are in the records.
How old is the name Kobi?
Kobi first appears in US birth records in 1958 — 67 years ago. The typical Kobi is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,100 people named Kobi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kobi most popular?
Kobi peaked in 2021, reaching #1943 nationally. Today it ranks #3577, 1,634 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yaakov to Kobi
The story of Kobi
Hebrew makes affectionate forms by clipping and adding -i, so Yaakov gives Kobi and Yosef gives Yossi. Kobi has been a standard Israeli men's name for decades. The unrelated Kobe is a Japanese port whose beef became famous in the west, and an American basketball player was named for it; his fame moved the sound into American given names for both sexes. The two lines are entirely separate.
Meaningscholars disagree
heel-holder, supplanter
Hebrew Kobi is a diminutive of Yaakov, which Genesis connects to a heel held at birth. Separately Kobe is a Japanese city, and the beef named for it gave an American athlete his first name. The modern American Kobi may descend from any of these.
How the name formed
- Yaakov
- Kobi
Related forms: Kobi · Jacob · Kobe
Pronouncing Kobi
KOH-bee
Two syllables, first stressed. There is little variation.
Nicknames for Kobi
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
- 1958
- Most girls named
- 2021101 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1943reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- −36.4%42 in 2025, from 66
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.
Kobi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kobi in Hebrew — same name
- Jacob in English — related form
- Kobe in Japanese — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Georgia.
Kobis among us
people named Kobi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 38,268 born in 2025 was named Kobi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kobi
- #3577
- Kobi on the 2025 chart
- #907
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kobi went to 42 girls in 2025, but Cobi is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 53, which makes it the 907th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,670 places above the chart.
- Kobi42
- Cobi11
About 1 girl in 30,326 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 38,268 for Kobi itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jessyca test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kobi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jessyca climbed just as high around 1989, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jessyca's path sketches the road Kobi is walking now.
Kobi 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 Kobi is headed
Kobi should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Kobi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kobi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning through Jacob, one of the best-documented names in existence.
- Four letters and two syllables, very quick to write.
- It works for a girl or a boy, which is useful before a birth.
- In Israel it is firmly a men's name, which she will meet.
- The basketball association is very strong in America.
- Kobi, Koby and Kobe are all in use and none is dominant.
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What they receive
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Kobi
Feminine · #3577 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kobis 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 Kobi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kobi?
- Kobi is the most-used spelling in US records — 42 of the 53 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Cobi.
- How popular is the name Kobi in 2025?
- Kobi ranks #3577 among US girl names in 2025, with 42 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kobi?
- About 1 in every 38,268 US girls born in 2025 was named Kobi — 42 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kobi with classmates?
- Kobi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kobi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Delphine#3577 · Evelyne#3577 · Ellanor#3577 · Gwenevere#3577 · Lian#3577 · Katya#3577 · Kolby#3577 · Cherry#3577
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kobi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kobi and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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