Boy · Hebrew, through Greek
Tobias
Say it: toh-BY-us
Meaning
Greek form of Hebrew Toviyyah, 'YHWH is good'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Spread through the apocryphal Book of Tobit and very popular in German-speaking countries in the late 20th century.
Its wave through time
Rising now
In the United States
- 23,080 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 2016, about 1 in 1,200 boys
- 1,268 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Biblical WorldAbout 1200 BC to AD 100
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- The Colonial Americas1500 to 1800
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
HebrewEarly ChristianEnglishAmericanFrenchSpanishItalianPortugueseGermanPolishDanishSwedish
The family of the name
Other spellings: Toby, Tobiah
| French | Tobie |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Tobías |
| Italian | Tobia |
| Portuguese | Tobias |
| German | Tobias |
| Polish | Tobiasz |
| Hebrew | Tobiah |
Famous bearers
- Tobias, son of Tobit in the Book of Tobit
- Tobias Smollett, Scottish novelist
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Apocrypha and other early religious writings
- Parish baptism registers
- National birth statistics of European countries source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.