Bob
Medieval rhyming pet form of Robert, Germanic hrod “fame” plus beraht “bright.”
Popularity, 1880–2025
Bob appears in the national records from the very first year, 1880. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American boys in every year from 1927 to 1940. Its biggest year was 1959, when 2,826 newborn boys received the name, ranking it No. 128 nationally. Its best ranking came in 1934, at No. 75. All told, 93,308 Americans have been given the name since 1880.
Related names
Other spellings on record: Bobbe (567) (total births since 1880)
Other names that share a story: Robert
Explore Bob interactively →By the decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 569 | No. 172 |
| 1890s | 548 | No. 214 |
| 1900s | 681 | No. 196 |
| 1910s | 2,678 | No. 222 |
| 1920s | 13,691 | No. 89 |
| 1930s | 23,293 | No. 75 |
| 1940s | 21,376 | No. 99 |
| 1950s | 12,902 | No. 128 |
| 1960s | 13,789 | No. 131 |
| 1970s | 1,983 | No. 399 |
| 1980s | 751 | No. 859 |
| 1990s | 367 | No. 1396 |
| 2000s | 184 | No. 2864 |
| 2010s | 134 | No. 4804 |
| 2020s | 40 | No. 6620 |
Births and rank shown for boys, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.
🍼 Enjoying this? Buy my baby a diaper
Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.