Bobby

What Bobby means

Diminutive of Robert, meaning “shining glory”

diminutive of the male given name Robert || From Anglo-Norman Robert, from the Old Frankish cognate of Old High German Hrodperht (normalised form: Ruodberht), from Proto-West Germanic *Hrōþiberht, from Proto-Germanic *Hrōþiberhtaz (literally “shining glory”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Bobby” (revision 94534959) and “Robert” (revision 94543013), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Bobby?

US: Falling: down from #740 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #67 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1936, when 7,735 boys got the name (#24 that year). First in the US records in 1900.

How common

• About 1 in 8,759 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 500 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,964 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in OK (0.45 per 1,000 boys), SC (0.38 per 1,000 boys), KY (0.34 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Bobby is #1097 in the US and #94 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 94.2% of US babies named Bobby were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Baby14 US · 25 E&W
• Bobi0 US · 16 E&W
• Bubba5 US
• Bobbi0 US · 3 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Bobbie
• Bobbi

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Bobby

Boys

• Robert#92“shining glory”^*
• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*
• Richard#234“king, ruler + hard, brave”^*
• Steven#271“crown, wreath”^*
• Michael#21“who is like God?”^*
• Kenneth#294“handsome”^*

For a sister

• Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”^*
• Sara#198Variant of Sarah, meaning “masters, princes”^*
• Amy#257“beloved”^*
• Ashley#164“ash tree + wood, clearing”^*
• Sarah#90“masters, princes”^*
• Mary#125Same root as Miriam, possibly meaning “bitter”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Bobby’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.