Kobie
Masculine
Kobie is given to both — 1,539 boys and 462 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Kobie is a spelling of Kobe, and the American name's history is short and precise: Kobe Bryant entered the NBA at eighteen in 1996, and the name — essentially absent before — climbs through his early seasons.
How old is the name Kobie?
Kobie first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Kobie alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 1,500 people named Kobie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kobie most popular?
Kobie peaked in 1998, reaching #1146 nationally. Today it ranks #5608, 4,462 places below that high. See the whole 1998 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Kōbe to Kobie
Our story of Kobie
This is a naming chain worth following because every link is documented. A Japanese port city, Kōbe, whose name comes from the households attached to a shrine. A style of beef raised in the surrounding prefecture and served in American restaurants. A couple who saw it on a menu and liked the sound. Their son, drafted into the NBA in 1996, who became one of the most famous athletes in the world and played twenty seasons. And then thousands of American boys named after him, whose name reaches back through a basketball career and a steak to a shrine's servants in Hyōgo prefecture. Kobie's 1998 peak sits in his second and third seasons; the Kobe spelling peaked later and much higher.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source establishes an etymology for the American name. Kobe is a Japanese city whose name means the god's door, and the basketball player was named for the beef served at a restaurant his parents visited. Separately, Kobie is a Dutch and Afrikaans familiar form of Jacob, from Hebrew Yaʿaqōb, and Kobi is a Hebrew short form of the same. The American Kobie sits between all three.
How the name formed
- Kōbe
- Kobe
- Kobie
Related forms: 神戸 · Kobie · Kobi
Pronouncing Kobie
KOH-bee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Japanese Kōbe is KOH-beh with a fuller final vowel; the American saying gives it a long e.
Nicknames for Kobie
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
- 1971
- Most boys named
- 2000110 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1146reached in 1998
- Change vs 2024
- −20.0%16 in 2025, from 20
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.
Kobie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 神戸 in Japanese — related form
- Kobie in Dutch — related form
- Kobi in Hebrew — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Kobies among us
people named Kobie are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 106,755 born in 2025 was named Kobie
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Blease test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kobie's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Blease climbed just as high around 1913, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Blease's path sketches the road Kobie is walking now.
Kobie 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
Kobie beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kobie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Everyone can say it after one hearing.
- It has a specific, documented and admired namesake.
- Five letters and two syllables keep it compact.
- Kobe is the standard spelling and will be written for it.
- There is no meaning behind it in the American use.
- It is closely tied to one athlete and one career.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kobie
Masculine · #5608 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kobies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Kobie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kobie in 2025?
- Kobie ranks #5608 among US boy names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kobie?
- About 1 in every 106,755 US boys born in 2025 was named Kobie — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kobie with classmates?
- Kobie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kobie
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rolland#5608 · Llewellyn#5608 · Arlie#5608 · Gerrit#5608 · Vinson#5608 · Georgie#5608 · Wally#5608 · Webb#5608
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kobie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kobie and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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