Tobias
Masculine · “God is good”
Tobias is the Greek form of a Hebrew name, carried into Europe by the Book of Tobit and worn since the Middle Ages in England, Germany and Scandinavia with barely a letter changed. It has a long, rolling shape in the mouth — three syllables that land on the middle one — and a short form, Toby, that has been in use for centuries alongside it.
How old is the name Tobias?
Tobias was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Tobias is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 28,000 people named Tobias are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tobias most popular?
Tobias peaked in 2016, reaching #246 nationally. Today it ranks #283, 37 places below that high. See the whole 2016 chart.
Where it comes from
From Toviyah to Tobias
The story of Tobias
The name begins as Hebrew Toviyah and reaches the wider world through the Book of Tobit, a book of the Greek Old Testament, where Tobias is the son who travels far from home and returns. Greek writers rendered it Tobias, Latin kept that spelling, and from Latin it passed into medieval and later European use. English speakers had it by the Middle Ages and quickly clipped it to Toby, while German and Scandinavian speakers kept the full three syllables as an ordinary, everyday name. Because Tobit sits among the deuterocanonical books, the name traveled most strongly in Catholic and Lutheran countries before spreading further.
Meaning
God is good
From Hebrew Toviyah, combining tov, "good," with a shortened form of the divine name.
How the name formed
- Toviyah
- TobiasGreek
- TobiasLatin
- Toby
Related forms: Tobias · Tobías · Tobiasz · Tóbiás · Toviyah · Tobias
Pronouncing Tobias
tuh-BY-us
Also said toh-BY-us in American English, with the stress on the second syllable either way. German and Scandinavian speakers say toh-BEE-ahs, which is worth knowing if relatives abroad will be using it.
Nicknames for Tobias
High
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 20171,344 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #246reached in 2016
- Change vs 2022
- −4.8%1,201 in 2025, from 1,262
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.
Tobias in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tobias in German — same name
- Tobías in Spanish — spelling variant
- Tobiasz in Polish — same name
- Tóbiás in Hungarian — spelling variant
- Toviyah in Hebrew — related form
- Tobias in Swedish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Tobiass among us
people named Tobias are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 1,422 born in 2025 was named Tobias
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 Orlando test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Tobias's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Orlando climbed just as high around 1975, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Orlando's path sketches the road Tobias is walking now.
Tobias 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 Tobias is headed
Tobias should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Tobias beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tobias in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and easy to state: God is good.
- Nearly identical across German, Swedish, Spanish, Polish and English, so it crosses borders without translation.
- Toby is a ready-made short form with centuries of use, giving a formal and an everyday version of the same name.
- Spelled the way it sounds for most American readers, and familiar enough that it rarely needs explaining.
- Toby will arrive whether you plan for it or not — it has been the default shortening of this name for hundreds of years. Worth deciding in advance whether you like it.
- The stress and first vowel vary: tuh-BY-us, toh-BY-us, and the European toh-BEE-ahs are all in circulation, so mild correcting is part of the deal.
- Familiar without being crowded — most children with this name go through school as the only one, which some families want and others find isolating.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Tobias
Masculine · #283 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tobiass are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 28,000 people named Tobias are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tobias in 2025?
- Tobias ranks #283 among US boy names in 2025, with 1,201 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tobias?
- About 1 in every 1,422 US boys born in 2025 was named Tobias — 1,201 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tobias with classmates?
- Tobias will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tobias
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Derek#284 · Jensen#282 · Atticus#281 · Colt#285 · Maximiliano#280 · Kash#286 · Cash#287 · Benson#279
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tobias? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tobias and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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