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Kobi

Masculine · “heel-holder”

Kobi is given to both — 1,971 boys and 1,147 girls since 1880. See Kobi as a girl nameSee other names given to both

1970high 2000
#2332 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare59 boys in 2025

Kobi is the Israeli short form of Ya'akov — Jacob, the heel-holder, named for how he was born.

How old is the name Kobi?

Kobi first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Kobi alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 1,900 people named Kobi are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Kobi most popular?

Kobi peaked in 2000, reaching #1271 nationally. Today it ranks #2332, 1,061 places below that high. See the whole 2000 chart.

Compare this nameMore “K” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Kobi

Jacob is named for grasping his brother's heel at birth, and Esau turns the name against him when the birthright is taken — the pun is in the Hebrew. Kobi is the everyday Israeli shortening of Ya'akov. It appears in American records in current use.

Meaning

heel-holder, supplanter

Through Ya'akov, from the Hebrew aqev, 'heel'. Genesis has him born gripping Esau's heel and the text plays on the word again at the birthright. Kobi is the standard Israeli short form. The Hebrew is documented.

How the name formed

  1. aqev
  2. Ya'akov
  3. Kobi

Related forms: קובי · Koby · Jacob

Pronouncing Kobi

KOH-bee

Two syllables, stress on the first. All the spellings of the sound are said identically.

Nicknames for Kobi

Moderate

Ya'akovThe parent form, available as a fuller and more formal version
KobA bare clipping, used inside families rather than generally
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

BOYS NAMED · 1970–20251025101025919702025

US babies named Kobi per year from 1970 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#12711970s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1970
Most boys named
2000102 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#1271reached in 2000
Change vs 2024
−41.0%59 in 2025, from 100
Kobi sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 2000, with 102 boys. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

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

  • קובי in Hebrew — transliteration
  • Koby in English — spelling variant
  • Jacob in English — related form

Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Florida, Georgia.

Kobis among us

1,900

people named Kobi are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 boy in 28,950 born in 2025 was named Kobi

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

Spellings of Kobi

#2332
Kobi on the 2025 chart
#710
counting every spelling

The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kobi went to 59 boys in 2025, but Coby, Koby and Cobi are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 220, which makes it the 710th most-given boys’ name of the year — 1,622 places above the chart.

About 1 boy in 7,764 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 28,950 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

III

Is it right for you

The Glennon 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: Glennon climbed just as high around 1928, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Glennon's path sketches the road Kobi is walking now.

40%chance Kobi will feel “very 2020s” by 2040
Kobi, aligned on its peakGlennon· peak 1928not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-30 yrs+70 yrsGlennon · #7414Kobi today
Kobi today is about where Glennon stood in 1953 — 25 years past a #1272-sized peak. By 1968, Glennon had settled around #2245.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

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

19702030

US babies named Kobi per year, 1970 to 2025, with a projection to 2030

Kobi looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 17% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.

Rising+17% by 2030projected around #2,233 in 2030

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.

Kobi beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Kobi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Kobithis name59#2332Harlen59#2332Skye59#2332Keyon59#2332Rishaan59#2332

US boys given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • That the name records a detail of the birth itself is a first-rate piece of Genesis.
  • Jacob is available as a full formal version.
  • Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
What to consider
  • At least four spellings of the sound are in circulation.
  • One basketball player dominates the association for many Americans.
  • It reads as a diminutive rather than a full name.

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Kobi

Masculine · #2332 in the U.S.

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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 1,900 people named Kobi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How do you spell Kobi?
Kobi is one of 4 recorded spellings. Coby is the more common one — 84 births in 2025 against 59 for Kobi.
How popular is the name Kobi in 2025?
Kobi ranks #2332 among US boy names in 2025, with 59 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Kobi?
About 1 in every 28,950 US boys born in 2025 was named Kobi — 59 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.

Harlen#2332 · Skye#2332 · Keyon#2332 · Rishaan#2332 · Oak#2332 · Layth#2332 · Merlin#2332 · Saad#2332

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kobi? See the current top 100.

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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