Tobey
Feminine
Tobey is given to both — 758 girls and 1,698 boys since 1880. See Tobey as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Tobey is recorded for boys and girls alike and is a short form of a name from a book that not every Bible contains. That book is unlike anything else in the collection: it is essentially a folk tale, with a journey, a demon, a cure and a dog.
How old is the name Tobey?
Tobey first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Tobey alive today was born around 1971, making them about 54 years old. About 600 people named Tobey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tobey most popular?
Tobey peaked in 1975, reaching #1756 nationally. See the whole 1975 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Tobey
A young man is sent on a journey to collect a debt, and a stranger offers to guide him. On the way a fish tries to bite him, the stranger tells him to keep the heart, liver and gall, and those organs turn out to be exactly what is needed: two of them drive off a demon that has killed seven previous husbands of the woman he marries, and the third cures his father's blindness. The stranger is the archangel Raphael in disguise and says so at the end. There is also a dog, which goes along and comes back, mentioned twice for no plot reason at all, and it is the only dog in the whole Bible that anybody is pleased to see.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Tobias comes from a Hebrew name about the goodness of God, and that reading is documented. This spelling is a short form written with an ey ending and is not documented directly.
Pronouncing Tobey
TOH-bee
Two syllables with the stress in front. The ey ending is said exactly like a y.
Nicknames for Tobey
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
- 1914
- Most girls named
- 197553 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1756reached in 1975
- Change vs 1996
- −16.7%5 in 2005, 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.
Tobeys among us
people named Tobey 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
Tobey 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
- It is read correctly at first sight and never needs spelling out loud.
- It is recorded for boys and for girls, so it does not force a reading on anyone.
- It is short, quick to write and easy for a child to learn.
- Toby is the commoner spelling and this one will be corrected to it regularly.
- It is also a common name for a dog, which people will mention.
- No origin is documented for this spelling, so the meaning question belongs to the longer name.
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Tobey
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Tobeys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Tobey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tobey in 2025?
- Tobey is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Tobey with classmates?
- Tobey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More T names
The most-given names starting with T, all years combined.
Teresa#908 · Theresa#1548 · Tiffany#878 · Tammy#3645 · Taylor#403 · Tina#2778 · Tracy#2153 · Thelma#4661
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tobey? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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