Tobias

What Tobias means

Means “my good is YHWH”

Derived from Ancient Greek Τωβίας (Tōbías), from Hebrew טוֹבִיָּה (toviyá, literally “my good is YHWH”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Tobias” (revision 93339555), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Tobias?

US: Rising: up from #316 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #106 in 2015, #116 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2016, when 1,523 boys got the name (#246 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,422 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 590 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 935 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 SD (2.86 per 1,000 boys), NH (2.44 per 1,000 boys), MT (2.39 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Tobias is #283 in the US and #116 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Tobias were boys.

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

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

If you like Tobias

Boys

• Ezekiel#61“God strengthens”^*
• Ezra#20Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #93 in 2015, #20 in 2025. Short and simple: 4 letters
• Matthias#372From Biblical Hebrew, meaning “gift of Yahweh”^*
• Elias#13Form of Elijah, meaning “Yahweh is my god”^*
• Adriel#84“flock of God”^*
• Eden#544possibly “steppe, garden”^*

For a sister

• Eliza#115Editor’s note Up from #175 in 2015 to #115 in 2025 in the US
• Zara#212“flower”^*
• Ezra#833Editor’s note Up from #1,199 in 2015 to #833 in 2025 in the US
• Rivka#628Same root as Rebecca, meaning “enchantingly beautiful, captivating…^*
• Lilith#277Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #586 in 2015, #277 in 2025
• Salem#435Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,425 in 2015, #435 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Tobias’s. Rank is US 2025.