boy's name
Bob
BOB
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 1
- Letters 3
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 93,826
Ireland
#965
2023 births
Bob comes from Robert, and the B is not a corruption but a system — medieval English made pet names by rhyming, which is why Rob gave Bob, Will gave Bill and Rick gave Dick.
- Bob is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1959, when 2,834 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 473,709 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Bob over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 569 |
| 1890s | 548 |
| 1900s | 681 |
| 1910s | 2,700 |
| 1920s | 13,765 |
| 1930s | 23,399 |
| 1940s | 21,430 |
| 1950s | 12,932 |
| 1960s | 13,820 |
| 1970s | 1,988 |
| 1980s | 751 |
| 1990s | 367 |
| 2000s | 184 |
| 2010s | 134 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 40 |
What Bob means
Bob means bright fame, carried from Robert. The Germanic joins a word for fame to one meaning bright, so the two elements reinforce a single idea.
Where Bob comes from
Bob shortens Robert, from the Germanic Hrodebert — hrod, fame, joined to beraht, bright. The initial change follows a rule rather than an accident: medieval English formed pet names by rhyming the first syllable, giving Bob from Rob, Bill from Will, Dick from Rick and Peg from Meg. Why English did this and neighboring languages largely did not is not settled. Robert was one of the most common English male names for six centuries, which is why it generated so many.
Bob in use
Bob peaked in the United States in 1959, when 2,834 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 10578th in the United States on 7 births, across 93,826 lifetime births. That ranking is among the deepest we record for a name still marked stable rather than falling.
How popular is Bob?
In 2025, Bob was given to 7 babies in the United States. It is a rare choice.
Where Bob is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Bob
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Bob also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Bob over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Bob in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Bob
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Bob — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Bob
What does the name Bob mean?
Bright fame, carried from Robert.
Why is Bob short for Robert?
Medieval English rhymed the first syllable — Rob to Bob, the same rule that gave Bill from Will.
Did other languages do this?
Largely not. Why English alone made rhyming pet names is not settled.
How popular is Bob?
10578th in the United States, though our data marks it stable rather than falling.
Is Bob a girl's or a boy's name?
Bob is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Bob?
Bob has 1 syllable.
Is Bob a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Bob currently ranks #10,578 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.