Bobby

Bobby: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“bright fame”
Origin
Germanic
Say it
BOB-ee · 2 syllables
Used for
Boys (97% of all uses)

Diminutive of Bob, itself a pet form of Robert. Robert comes from Germanic Hrodebert, from elements meaning ‘fame’ and ‘bright’.

How popular is Bobby?

202460.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Bobby in 2024198

2024 rank#1,123 boys

Peak year1936

Total US babies since 1880324,511

Bobby is fading: recent use is about 65% of its level ten years before.

Names like Bobby

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Robertbright fame · Germanic
  • Robinbright fame · English
  • Robertobright fame · Germanic
  • Robynbright fame · English
  • Robertabright fame · Germanic
  • Bobbibright fame · English
  • Robbright fame · Germanic
  • Hobertbright fame · Germanic

Bobby questions

What does the name Bobby mean?

Bobby means "bright fame". It comes from Germanic. Diminutive of Bob, itself a pet form of Robert. Robert comes from Germanic Hrodebert, from elements meaning ‘fame’ and ‘bright’.

Is Bobby a boy or girl name?

Bobby is mainly a boy's name in US records (97% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Bobby?

198 US babies were named Bobby in 2024. Its peak year was 1936.

How do you pronounce Bobby?

Bobby is usually pronounced BOB-ee.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.