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Kobe

Kobe: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“god's door”
Origin
Japanese
Say it
KOH-bay · 2 syllables
Used for
Boys (97% of all uses)

As a Japanese given name, Kobe can be written with different kanji and meanings; this exact meaning is one attested reading, but usage varies by characters. It is also known from the Japanese city name Kōbe. The origin of this name is not settled among etymologists.

Japanese namesNames meaning faithInternational namesShort names

How popular is Kobe?

2024249 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 Kobe in 2024828

2024 rank#409 boys

Peak year2020

Total US babies since 188022,497

Kobe is rising: use over the last five years is 2.0× what it was a decade earlier.

Names like Kobe

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Cobysupplanter · English
  • Raidenthunder and lightning · Japanese
  • Kodauncertain · Japanese
  • Roninmasterless samurai · Japanese
  • Kaizenimprovement; change for better · Japanese
  • Kenzohealthy and three · Japanese
  • Kenjihealthy second son · Japanese
  • Zenmeditation · Japanese

Kobe questions

What does the name Kobe mean?

Kobe means "god's door". It comes from Japanese. As a Japanese given name, Kobe can be written with different kanji and meanings; this exact meaning is one attested reading, but usage varies by characters. It is also known from the Japanese city name Kōbe.

Is Kobe a boy or girl name?

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

How popular is Kobe?

828 US babies were named Kobe in 2024. Its peak year was 2020.

How do you pronounce Kobe?

Kobe is usually pronounced KOH-bay.

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.