Toby

What Toby means

Form of Tobias, meaning “my good is YHWH”

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

Source: Wiktionary, “Toby” (revision 93674119) and “Tobias” (revision 93339555), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Toby?

US: Falling: down from #681 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #44 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1975, when 1,191 boys got the name (#190 that year). First in the US records in 1882.

How common

• About 1 in 7,299 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 453 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,091 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 KY (0.49 per 1,000 boys), MO (0.36 per 1,000 boys), MN (0.33 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Toby is #977 in the US and #89 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 69.9% of US babies named Toby 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

• Tobi31 US · 39 E&W
• Tobey8 US · 4 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.

If you like Toby

Boys

• Nathan#63“gave”^*
• Nathaniel#140“God has given”^*
• Samuel#18“God has set or God has placed”^*
• Saul#557Editor’s note Down from #494 in 2015 to #557 in 2025 in the US
• Caleb#58possibly “dog”^*
• Nathanael#632“God has given”^*

For a sister

• Makayla#566Form of Michael, meaning “who is like God?”^*
• Abby#731Diminutive of Abigail, meaning “my Father's joy”^*
• Anna#107Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #44 in 2015, #107 in 2025
• Mikayla#746Form of Michael, meaning “who is like God?”^*
• Abigail#41“my Father's joy”^*
• Gabriela#317Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2003, with 3,362 babies; 961 in 2025

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