Names › Boy › B › Bob
Boy name

Bob

/ˈbɑb/ · 100% boys · 7 born in 2025

Bob has been given to about 93,308 people in the United States since 1880. It was most common in 1959, which makes it a midcentury name.

Meaning—
Origin—
Syllables1
Pronunciation/ˈbɑb/
Nicknames—
Living in the US≈ 50,986
Median age today77 years

Popularity, 1880–2025

Babies named Bob per year · SSA, ONS, NRS, CSO, INSEE and SSB
18802025
United StatesEngland & WalesScotlandFranceeach scaled to its own peak
  • Peak year1959 · 2,834
  • Born in 20257
  • All time93,308

How popular is Bob?

Its best year was 1959, when 2,834 babies were given the name, ranking 128th. The typical living American called Bob is about 77 years old today.

Names that sound like Bob

Phonetic similarity, 0–1
  1. Rob0.75
  2. Bobby0.68
  3. Bo0.65
  4. Boyd0.53
  5. Brock0.51
  6. Jacob0.47
  7. Bobbie0.48
  8. Jakob0.47

Middle names for Bob

Ranked by flow score
  1. Bob James0.74
  2. Bob Miles0.73
  3. Bob Wilder0.72
  4. Bob Thomas0.71
  5. Bob Cole0.70
  6. Bob Paul0.55

Sibling names for Bob

Same era, comparable use, no clash
  1. Lorettasister · 0.93
  2. Fayesister · 0.93
  3. Rolandbrother · 0.93
  4. Rosemarysister · 0.92
  5. Franklinbrother · 0.91
  6. Hughbrother · 0.91

Where Bob is strongest

Share of 2025 births by state

    With a common surname

    Flow score against the most-used American surnames · try your own
    1. Bob Evans0.73
    2. Bob Edwards0.73
    3. Bob Anderson0.73
    4. Bob Allen0.73
    5. Bob Adams0.73
    6. Bob Wilson0.69

    How to read these numbers

    Every score on this page is explained
    1. Phonetic similarity0–1
    2. Middle-name flow0–1
    3. Sibling fit0–1
    4. Living population estimatemethod
    5. PronunciationCMU dictionary

    Sources for Bob

    Every figure on this page is public record
    1. United States1880–2025
    2. England & Wales1996–2025
    3. Scotland1974–2020
    4. France1900–2025
    5. PronunciationCMU dictionary

    Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.