Tobias
The story
Tobias is Hebrew for God is good, carried by the hero of the Book of Tobit, who traveled with an angel and a dog and did not know about the angel. The American record kept it rare for most of a century, under 250 a decade into the 1950s, then built with unusual steadiness: about 2,100 in the 1970s, a pause, then 2,300, 4,800, 9,400 in the 2010s, and 7,400 so far this decade, closing on the full total. One figure is absolute: across the entire record, not one girl, 29,300 boys to zero. Toby does the everyday work, as our nickname records note, and does it so well that many Tobiases only meet their full name on documents. Three syllables of scripture with a wagging tail in the backstory: the name has been good company for a very long time.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Tobias peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
6,148 people · the #2,375 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 33,333 · median age 24
Among people named Tobias living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 856 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Tobias
Most people given the name Tobias in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Tobias deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Tobias truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Tobias fits with your family’s names and surname.
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