Bobi
Derived from a diminutive form of the Slavic name Robert.
Name Census estimates that about 522 living Americans carry the first name Bobi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bobi today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bobi births was 1979 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bobi. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Bobi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
522
~ 1 in 656,618 Americans
Peak year
1979
32 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
1996 SSA rank
#12,030
Tracked since 1942
Census
Bobi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 585 people with the first name Bobi, which placed it at #18,434 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#18,434
National first-name rank
People counted
585
585 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bobi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bobi is White at 80.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Black (4.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bobi described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bobi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.9% · 473
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 29
- Black or African American4.4% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.1% · 24
- Two or more races3.9% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 10
Popularity
Bobi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bobi from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 195 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bobi by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bobi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bobis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bobi
The name Bobi is believed to have originated as a diminutive form of the Hebrew name Binyamin, which means "son of the right hand" or "son of the south." The name Binyamin is derived from the biblical figure Benjamin, one of the twelve sons of Jacob and the progenitor of one of the tribes of Israel.
In its diminutive form, Bobi was likely used as a nickname or shortened version of Binyamin, particularly among Ashkenazi Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. The earliest recorded examples of the name Bobi can be found in various historical documents and records from the 18th and 19th centuries in this region.
One notable figure who bore the name Bobi was Bobi Yosef (1828-1903), a renowned Hasidic rabbi and spiritual leader from Galicia, Poland. He was known for his teachings and writings on Jewish mysticism and Torah interpretation.
Another historical figure with the name Bobi was Bobi Kvitko (1887-1952), a Yiddish actor and playwright from Ukraine. He was a prominent figure in the Yiddish theater scene and helped popularize Yiddish culture and literature during his lifetime.
In the realm of literature, Bobi Leser (1899-1944) was a Yiddish poet and writer from Poland. His works often explored themes of Jewish identity and the challenges faced by Jews in a rapidly changing world. Tragically, Leser perished in the Holocaust during World War II.
Moving to more modern times, Bobi Nagler (1929-2022) was a renowned Israeli painter and sculptor. Her artwork, which often depicted biblical and mythological themes, was widely celebrated and can be found in museums and collections around the world.
Finally, Bobi Stein (1944-2010) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He co-founded the iconic clothing brand Tommy Hilfiger and was known for his charitable contributions to various educational and cultural institutions.
While the name Bobi may have its roots in Hebrew and Jewish culture, it has transcended its origins and can be found among people of various backgrounds and nationalities today. However, its historical significance and connection to the biblical name Binyamin remain an integral part of its legacy.
People
Bobi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bobi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bobi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bobi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 522 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bobi going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 656,618 US residents.
Is Bobi a common name?
We classify Bobi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 593 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bobi most popular?
The single biggest year for Bobi was 1979, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bobi is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bobi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 585 people with the name Bobi, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,434 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bobi in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bobi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bobi leans strongly female. 531 people counted with this name were female (91.7%), compared with 48 male bearers (8.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bobi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bobi is White at 80.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Black (4.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bobi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bobi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.9% (473 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bobi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bobi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bobi in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Bobi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bobi in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bobi can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Bobi?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.